W Richter,
Helderberg
The second expansion of Waterstone Village in a matter of a few years is currently under way.
This means more customers, and increased traffic. However, somebody seems to have forgotten the matter of adequate exits.
Having only a single narrow exit to my mind is a design flaw from the outset. It seems contrary to any safety standards for such a complex. Supposing there was some emergency like a fire or an explosion,
and there’s only one way out.
In peak times there’s hardly any space to move. It will lead to pandemonium on an inconceivable scale.
How any city council could approve such an arrangement is a mystery. Already visitors to the centre find an unbelievable crunch in trying to leave at peak times.
Today I was trapped in the centre for one-and-a half hours while having important things to do. Rather than sit in an atmosphere of carbon monoxide for that time, I parked and went back for some refreshments.
The greed that drives such expansions to the extent of disregarding the interests of the consumer is bound to backfire.
Already some friends and I have been talking that it would make much more sense to support a much more user-friendly shopping centre at Somerset Mall to avoid the insanity of Waterstone Village.
That in a sense would be poetic justice.