My Account
Speed humps awaited
I live on Langton Rd in Stanmore Bay and I, as well as quite a few neighbours, would love to see speed humps put in place between Vipond Road and the beachfront. I have been in touch with Auckland Transport a few times over the last few years and their reply has been very disappointing. We have had at least four car accidents on this part of the road over the last three or four years and they were not small. In each case, ambulances were required. Also speed is another major problem especially with the increase in traffic. This road is a way to access Stanmore Bay Beach, which a lot of families use.
Arthur Clarke, Stanmore Bay (abridged)
Auckland Transport spokesperson Mark Hannon responds: This road has not been prioritised for speed-calming this financial year. We are re-prioritising sites for speed-calming this year, and our website will be updated next year to reflect this.
Bollard spin offs
Referring to the “A load of bollards” item (HM October 11) issue, I fear that Big Manly Beach residents and beach users may discover that spin-offs from the planned installation of bollards will not be satisfactory. First, in anticipation of the projected loss of a significant number of carparks particularly those accessed from Beach Road, I fear that a good few folk who come to simply view the beach scene, will be deprived of this amenity and may well be inclined to use the beach as the default carpark. From my observation, those who park there are in the main families and older folk. Second, since last summer, as a mostly daily beach walker, I have seen a small number of beach users parking their utes or 4WD vehicles with trailers on the beach, often with their front wheels up against the sand dunes, thus potentially damaging them. All this is blatantly in breach of the rules for using the beach. These two issues: the loss of carparks at the west end of the beach, and the risk to the sand dunes by larger vehicles parking at the east end, trouble me considerably. About a year ago, recognising the issue of parking on the beach, I asked Auckland Council, to make their notices for public usage rules with a print size readable from 5m away and placed facing the beach access points so that no driver can plead ignorance. Long term, I suppose some of Manly Park will end up becoming the carpark for the beach.
Paul Huffam, Stanmore Bay (abridged)
Re John Simons’ query on the structure exposed near Arundel Reserve, (HM October 11) here’s an image of a photo on a signboard by the highway underpass to Arundel Reserve showing the original bridge going over Nukumea stream. A local I spoke with said in 40 years of living in Ōrewa he’d never seen the foundations of this bridge exposed. He said that this bridge linked the main road with Old North Road, which was the only link over to Waiwera. In the days of horse and cart it took two days over this road to get to Waiwera! The stream was used for boat trips to Ōrewa house and further upstream.
Yvonne Gray, Ōrewa
Maccas drive-thru investigated
Auckland Transport (AT) has added to comments it made last issue (HM October 25, letters page) relating to the queues at McDonald’s Ōrewa drive-through causing traffic problems. AT spokesperson Mark Hannan says the issue has been sent to one of Auckland Transport’s engineering teams to look at. “The team have advised they will need to wait for a drop in alert levels before this can be looked at correctly, as with most drive-through establishments at the moment, long queues are not uncommon as stores are closed,” Hannan says. He says Auckland Council is also looking at issues with the carpark that customers have to drive through on the way to the collection window, but that this work is also currently on hold as a result of alert levels. The Hibiscus and Bays Local Board has requested that this issue be looked at in the past and potential solutions were considered but no action was taken due to lack of funding.
