Sign In / Register
A bureaucratic bungle has allowed a recently opened Rodney walkway to become overgrown with weeds and fall into a state of disrepair.
The blunder came to light after Snells Beach resident Colin Coupe complained to Auckland Council about the state of Te Whau Walkway, which runs for 1.5km from Goodall Reserve in Snells Beach to Dawson’s Landing.
The walkway was opened in June 2016 following eight years of planning and labour by local volunteers, supported by a $391,000 grant from the Rodney Local Board.
Council is responsible for maintaining the walkway but after regularly strolling the route over several months last year, Mr Coupe was dismayed to discover conditions on the walkway were becoming increasingly dire, with no effort made to address problems requiring urgent attention.
Encroaching weeds saw the width of the trail diminish from two metres down to half a metre in places and associated drains were becoming clogged.
Mr Coupe feared the blocked drains would cause water to wash over the path, causing further damage and necessitating further expensive repairs at ratepayers’ expense.
Frustrated by the lack of action, he phoned Council last month to complain and contacted Local Board chair Beth Houlbrooke.
Ms Houlbrooke was shocked to see photographs of the walkway supplied by Mr Coupe and immediately contacted Council’s Community Facilities department.
It was then discovered that Te Whau Walkway had been inadvertently left off the schedule when Council maintenance work was awarded to contractor Urban Maintenance Systems last July.
Furthermore, Ms Houlbrooke says it appears the previous contractor was only attending to the walkway when complaints were made about it, not on a regular basis.
“Unfortunately, this is one that has fallen through the cracks,” she says.
Ms Houlbrooke says the incident highlights the importance of members of the public reporting problems to Council early.
There is no “Clerk of Works” as in the old Rodney District Council days, whose job it was to inspect all work done by contractors and ensure it was satisfactory.
Instead, contractors are subject to random audits, meaning shoddy work could go undetected unless reported by members of the public.
“Ratepayers do not need to accept substandard services, but they must let Council know if something is substandard,” Ms Houlbrooke says.
Council head of operational management and maintenance Agnes McCormack agrees the current condition of the walkway is unacceptable and this will be fixed.
“The current maintenance issues will be rectified and measures are being put in place to ensure that the path will be regularly maintained going forward,” she says.
