Little Corner Shops

Hutt News, Volume 20, Issue 22, 30 October 1946, Page 7

Little Corner Shops

PROPOSAL BY COUNCILLORS

ALLEGED NEED IN SUBURBS

The value of “little corner shops” in the suburbs, where housewives could obtain supplies of which they had run out, lias often been stressed by Councillor H. W. Dudding. Mr. Budding claims that the fault is in the town planning, and if residents in suburban localities make a request for the amenity something might be done. At present, he says, many women have to go long distances, often with young children and in bad weather, to the nearest store. A tour of some of the suburbs with Mr. Dudding gives weight to bis views. Proceeding along Woburn Road one does not see a shop, residents having to go into Lower Hutt or to a shop near the ramp for their supplies.

Still No Shops

On to Bell Block (near the Railway Workshops), the Gracefield Block with its school, and the big factory area —still no shop. It is not until one reaches the White’s Line area that one comes to shopping facilities. At tlie new subdivision (Malone Road area) the only service is a bakery.

Finally one comes to the Waterloo shopping area. This is a very nice area, serving the residents but not people on the outskirts. There is no shop between there and Woburn, a distance of about one and a half miles. There is no reason why there should not be a shop half-way along Oxford Terrace and another half-way along Cambridge Terrace, says Mr. D inkling. He also thinks that a shop in Penrose Street would serve a wide area; at present residents of that locality have to go into High "Street, which is fully a mile

away. Much-needed Amenity “These little corner shops would provide a good business for someone and at the same time supply a much-needed ■ amenity,” says Mr. Dudding. One tiling is particularly noticeable in Lower Hutt compared with most other towns—the absence of “tuck shops” which have grown into little stores near schools, providing a convenience for both housewives and children. Mr. Dudding’s proposal deserves a lot of thought.