LETTERS Road maintenance on the side

• Published date: 16 April 2024
• Publication title: Northland Age, The

The online search revealed no mention of the dry period policy and all up, information was fairly scant. Apparently in December 2023, 22.4 per cent of unsealed roads were graded with maintenance being based on car use of the roads. I guess this roughly means we are lucky to see a grader every four months

This last one is interesting, as unless there is some new system of counting traffic, I cannot remember the last time there was a counting cable across the roads I travel on.

The more I have thought about the council committing to a policy of not maintaining side roads during the dry summer period the more incredulous I have become. The sheer arrogance and abrogation of responsibility is breathtaking - not to mention the legal liability on behalf of ratepayers. Were there to be a fatal accident and the serious accident crew decided the state of the side road was a major contributing factor, it would be interesting to see the outcome, given the council’s stance.

And it is not unlikely, either. The majority of tourists drive on a proper pavement, not a metal one, which they struggle to cope with.

Further reflection has convinced me that, like Councillor Vujcich, there needs to be a new approach to side roading management. Based, I believe, around the simple basic requirement of controlling the water on and around the roads and by whom is also part of this.

Is it possibly better to have a rural contractor in each geographical area (north, east, south and west) with smaller graders and diggers to do, at least the grading, more often, rather than a grader based in town having to drive miles before actually doing any grading?

The present model is no longer fit for purpose in that it does not achieve the basic requirements or the transparency to give ratepayers any confidence or faith in the system. Rural folk obviously do not get a lot for their rates paid but it is time that changed. They should at least know how the figures stack up as they do for everything else they pay for. For instance, how much an hour does a grader cost versus how much does the rate take on Henderson Bay Rd properties add up to annually?

No more smoke and mirrors or policies that pop up if a ratepayer goes through the process of making an RFS [request for service] during the summer.

N Wagener

Houhora

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