Botany resident Mark Hanson has appealed to the Howick Local Board to help fix the state of Botany footpaths and the unsatisfactory repair of them.
Mr Hanson attended the Howick Local Board public meeting on Monday night asking the board to address the issue on behalf of residents, who are left to deal with “tacky” and “unsightful” footpaths.
“In my opinion, it’s not the care and attention the footpaths should be getting,” he said.
He cited various examples within the Botany area, such as the repairs outside 90 Baverstock Road, the inconsistent bitumen job outside council-owned property Gracechurch Reserve, and the site on the corner of Chapel and Kilkenny roads where a “temporary solution” still remains, seven years down the track.
The worst, he said, is outside his own house, where he measured and photographed an eight centimetre drop in the concrete.
It was fixed around two to three years ago, but has since eroded to that extent, and Mr Hanson said it’s lucky nobody has been injured as a result.
“It’s shameful. I had friends over from America, and I’m embarrassed when they comment on the state of our footpaths.”
It’s a two-fold problem, he said, and one that he hopes the board will take action on.
Firstly, repairing footpaths with bitumen instead of concrete can appear “cheap and tacky and unsightful” said Mr Hanson, as it creates a look of inconsistency.
Howick Local Board chairman David Collings suggested bitumen may be more flexible and therefore a more viable option for repairing footpaths.
Mr Hanson also raised the issue of the emergence of roots from trees planted along the sidewalk and the way some can cause disruption to the pavement.
“You go for a walk and sometimes you’ll see a big tree and it’s just fine and hasn’t been recently lay, then with some other ones the tree is relatively young but the pavement is disrupted.
“We could get our tree experts along and determine what those trees are that are not disruptive, or have something that will drive the roots far enough down to alleviate that problem in the first place… we can’t change what’s happened now but for a new subdivision, this would be a good initiative.”
Auckland Transport media relations manager Mark Hannan said there are a number of vehicle crossings with a gravel surface on Gracechurch Road which Auckland Transport has made safe for pedestrians.
“We carry out regular inspections of the footpath network. Any damaged footpaths which are considered to be unsafe are made safe with a temporary repair. Permanent repairs are done when we carry out repairs in the adjacent area.
“Vehicle crossings are the responsibility of the property owner under the Auckland Council Bylaw. We will be asking the property owners to upgrade the crossings to the required standard.”
