Yet the down-at-heel appearance of Palmerston’s main drag is very much vexing the locals.
Specifically, Waihemo Community Board members say they are frustrated at the "shocking" state of the town’s commercial area.
Once pride of place, the old Palmerston Railway Station now greets visitors with broken windows, blistering paint and rotting timber.
"This building is pretty run down and it got vandalised maybe two years ago, and now the windows are all boarded up.
"It's looking like an old town, some old country and western thing," Waihemo Community Board chairwoman Heather McGregor said.
The privately-owned building, along with several adjoining rundown and vacant shops, had seen better days.
It all added to "no appeal" for visitors arriving in town on Ronaldsay St (State Highway 1), Mrs McGregor said.
And the neglect made local residents feel less than proud.
The former bar and cafe in the old railway station shut down over five years ago, which "peeved" locals at the time, Waihemo ward councillor Jim Thomson said.
The owner, Bernie Sugrue, had listed it for sale, but the building had been left to fall into disrepair, Mrs McGregor added.
"What you're seeing is someone who's bought it, but they haven't actually actively been trying to sell it or even restore it in any way," she said.
Mr Sugrue also owns the nearby McGregors Bakery, the second-hand clothing shops Marilyn’s Shop and Lily on Ronaldsay St (SH1), and the now closed Bert's Shed.
"You go up Tiverton St, you see a second-hand shop with stuff laid out on the footpath ... there's no appeal whatsoever," Mrs McGregor said.
Waihemo board member Tanya Bell said Palmerston’s appearance to the passing public was "shocking".
Another example was the key southern landmark to the town, the former town hall.
It had been sold, "and that's turned into a pit".
Mrs Bell said board members had brought their concerns to the Waitaki District Council informally.
But they felt "powerless", which left them frustrated at what to do for the town.
"It’s so prescriptive on what rural ratepayers can do.
"But then when it comes to the main street of Palmerston ... they have no control over what happens on our main street. I find it really frustrating," she said.
Mr Sugrue had been "hard to connect with" as the board sought to find a solution, Mrs McGregor said.
It had considered diverting their portion of "better off funding" to improve the town centre, but had backed the Puketapu Trust’s plans instead.
Cr Thomson said the town being held back was "very frustrating", but he acknowledged they needed to talk to Mr Sugrue.
"All we can do is encourage or cajole him to make change. We have no power to enforce that or to make him do anything," he said.
Meanwhile, the board had plans to improve the garden area near the public toilets near the railway station soon.
Mrs Bell said plenty of Palmerston locals were passionate about the town’s potential improvement.
Planned security cameras for the town centre would add to that.
"That ties into the beautification and the protection of the town — keeping it looking good and having those things in place are important," she said.
The Timaru-based owner of the dilapidated station believed things could be progressed if community leaders were prepared to work with him.
But at the same time, Bernie Sugrue said the town was "a tough place" to do business and faced economic challenges.
He was responding to concerns raised by members of the Waihemo Community Board about the state of the town centre reflected in the buildings he owns.
"They could come and talk to me firstly," he said.
"At the end of the day we can work together on things and putting together a way forward for caring about Palmerston.
"No-one has spoken to my face, or by phone call or email. No-one has contacted me directly about it," he said this week.
However, Mr Sugrue said it had been "really difficult" to get a return on investment property in Palmerston, "but I'm very open to talking about it".
"Do I feel a bit embarrassed about it, yeah."
At the same time, he was open to options "if people want to invest".
