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Frustrated Wellsford residents are again calling for urgent action to replace slippery and uneven pavers that line the town’s main street, after an elderly man was injured in a recent fall.
Owen Treadwell, who has lived in Wellsford all his life, was badly bruised when he tripped and fell outside Caffé Cozy and he’s been confined to his home ever since (see story below)
When his daughter, Lisa Crisp, posted photos of his injuries on social media, there was a flood of replies from people who had also suffered slips, trips and falls on the yellow brick surface.
Injuries included a broken hip, broken foot, cracked ribs, damaged knees and severe bruising, while many people reported slipping and being scared to walk on the path when it was wet, with some resorting to walking in the road, hanging onto walls or even avoiding the town altogether.
Coast to Coast medical centre confirmed that it regularly saw patients with injuries caused by people falling on the paths.
The chevron-patterned pavers were laid in the latter years of Rodney District Council, before Wellsford became part of Auckland in 2010. They have caused nothing but trouble ever since, according to Rodney Local Board member Colin Smith.
“They came from a flat surface in Ōrewa and were put on a hill in Wellsford,” he said.
“It’s been an absolute disaster. They’re on a clay base, so they’re all out of kilter, and they’re ‘slippery as’ when it rains.”
Smith said the pavers were not made for public use, and nothing could be done except replace them with concrete.
“They’ve tried every treatment there is – sanding them, skimming them off – but they’re just a house block, they’re not a rough block that has some grip on it. They’ve got to come out, there’s no way they can leave them there.
“It’s just ridiculous, there’s an accident happening almost every day.”
Smith said it had become a health and safety or WorkSafe issue.
“It should be a safety thing – Auckland Transport (AT) should be using its emergency budget, or council, to replace them with concrete, because there are broken bones and bruises on a daily basis.
“Instead of spending $10 million on cycleways in Auckland, how about they spend a few bob in Wellsford?”
It’s not just Smith who has been pushing for the pavers to be replaced – in 2021, a petition was presented to the local board and, more recently, community volunteer Melissa Wallace has been lobbying council and AT to get something done. She recently submitted a file of 35 photos of pavers that need attention to AT, but says it shouldn’t be down to residents and volunteers to get them fixed.
However, while AT acknowledges that the pavers need to be replaced, the cost of doing so means that nothing has happened apart from spot repairs and maintenance.
A proposal to replace the pavers was put forward as a potential project for funding from Rodney Local Board’s Transport Capital Fund in February last year, but it wasn’t selected as a priority due to the high cost – an estimated $3 million.
At last month’s board meeting, members again voted to request AT to consider including replacing the pavers with concrete in future work programmes.
An AT spokesperson said its maintenance team was aware of the pavers and that they would need to be replaced, as other options weren’t viable, but said work to do that was neither confirmed nor planned at this stage.
Fall knocks pensioner’s confidence
Wellsford businesses and residents have been trying to get the pavers that line Rodney Street replaced with something more level and less slippery for years, but to no avail. Mahurangi Matters spoke to one of the latest victims, 85-year-old Owen Treadwell, whose recent fall has prompted a doubling down in local efforts to get something done.
Until six weeks ago, Wellsford’s Owen Treadwell was an active retiree, walking with a stick or driving his car or mobility scooter into town every day to catch up with friends.
However, on February 21, as he approached Caffé Cozy for lunch, he tripped on uneven pavers and fell heavily onto a seat outside, injuring his thigh, arm and hand.
Although no bones were broken, there was heavy bruising and swelling, which intensified and spread over the following days to the point where he couldn’t use his leg at all.
“I couldn’t even lift my leg or get out of the chair. My son has had to lift me in and out of the chair, my bed and the toilet,” he said. “The worst thing is the pain – it feels like a knife stabbing my leg.”
Wife Trish said if someone sitting on the seat hadn’t partially broken his fall, things could have been much worse.
“He could have gone through the window and he’s lucky he didn’t hit his head – that would have been it,” she said. “His age is a worry. Some people can fall at that age and a few days later, they die from shock.”
Four weeks after the fall, Owen still hadn’t been able to leave the house and, according to daughter Lisa Crisp, was a changed man.
“He’s gone from being an able man who drives and walks and ventures into town on his mobility scooter to needing help getting out of bed, getting into bed, getting off and on his recliner and to and from the bathroom,” she said.
“He’s not a happy guy; he’s feeling isolated and sore. He doesn’t like feeling this way.”
Although she was pleased Auckland Transport (AT) responded to her complaint and fixed the uneven pavers in question within a few days, she and her parents said it was high time the paths were replaced before more people were injured.
“Dad would like the whole street fixed,” Lisa said. “He was born here, lived here all his life, worked in the community, paid his taxes, raised a family and now he’s an old man, frustrated that the issue of these pavers still goes on. So many people have fallen and been hurt.”
Trish agreed, saying Auckland Council and AT weren’t being fair
“They put us in Auckland just to make money,” she said. “They can find millions of dollars for cycleways in Auckland. It’s not right and they shouldn’t be able to do it – it’s stealing from us. We should withhold our rates.”
