Fred R. Barnard, back in 1927, in the trade journal “Printers’ Ink’ is attributed to being the first to use the quote “One Picture is Worth A Thousand Words”.
The excellent “Discover Magazine’ promotes our picturesque town using eye-catching photos of Port Macquarie’s natural attributes.
Having lived here since early 2010 I have come to appreciate, everything our delightful town has to offer except for the SE corner of Horton and Clarence Streets and its collection of fast food outlets.
Returning just recently from a walk along the break-wall I came to the subject corner and was once again appalled, as I had been two years ago, by the state of putridity of the footpaths i n front of, and adjacent to these establishments.
I could not help wondering what the Hastings Shire Health Department thinks of the unhealthy layer, coating the pavement. I certainly wouldn’t put anything dropped onto it anywhere my mouth, let alone any child!
Whilst the proprietors, will likely protest that the cleaning of footpaths / sidewalks are the responsibility of our “cash-strapped’ Council I find it interesting that homeowners and businesses with a section of lawn fronting their property are expected to keep it neat and tidy on a regular basis.
Are the proprietors of fast food so uncaring of the image they present? Do they not care about the impressions conveyed to visiting “cash-spending tourists’? Or are they too preoccupied, counting their profits to bother being “Civic Minded’? Or, as it would appear do they simply not give a damn!
Compounding this deplorable situation were the over-flowing rubbish bins nearby! Although they are an improvement on those they replaced they are still inadequate. Regardless, they are not emptied frequently enough and the result is litter which promotes more littering.
Despondent as I was, yet again, at this deplorable situation, I took a series of photos. What particularly affected me, was the knowledge,that this situation has not improved in the two years since I arrived.
The day in question, was not a “Festival Day’, such as the “Fun Run’ on the previous Saturday nor was it a particularly busy “tourist day’. It was just an ordinary afternoon, in Port’s “heart’. Yet the images that I captured were deplorable.
Were they to be published, in conjunction with this letter the subject proprietors would no doubt retort “they’ve been “Photoshopped’ to make us look bad”.
Unquestionably, these are not “pictures’ that our Tturism gurus would consider incorporating into their glossy publication because they convey a “Thousand Words’ of the lesser aspects of our town. Is this the “best’ that business leaders can do? Are these the images that they feel are ‘appropriate’ to present to our visitors?
My challenge to these seemingly uncaring proprietors is show us that you do care by taking responsibility for your actions. Remember it is the detritus from the food that you sell that soils these public thoroughfares.
Show everybody that you really deserve to occupy this prime location.
Wouldn’t it make us all proud, to be able to hear visitors say “I love Port Macquarie the streets are so clean!”
Name and Address withheld
