Businesses keen to install bollards
Councils receive more requests after recent ram raids
Councils across the Bay of Plenty are reporting an increase in requests for bollard installation outside businesses. It comes as a new police report shows the Bay of Plenty had the second-highest number of ram raids in New Zealand in the year to October. Tauranga City Council said it recently received two applications from retailers on Cameron Rd requesting it install bollards in footpaths, but both requests were denied for “safety reasons”.
Director of transport Brendan Bisley said property owners could generally install bollards on private property with “some conditions”.
Requests to install bollards on council land were considered on a case-by-case basis. This ensured bollards did not restrict pedestrians, or obstruct access to underground services and future footpath upgrades, he said.
Rotorua Lakes Council infrastructure and environmental solutions acting deputy chief executive Regan Fraser said most bollards in the CBD were installed within private property and did not require approval to install. However, he said resource consent was needed in some instances.
Fraser said in the last six months the council had received two inquiries looking into the process of installing bollards outside their premise. Last year it did not receive any.
Asked in what circumstances would council deny an application to have bollards installed, it said where the position of a bollard “interferes with underground infrastructure”, blocks or impedes the footpath or has unsafe positioning or design.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council deputy chief executive and infrastructure group manager Gary Allis said it was “very unusual” to get any requests for bollards to be installed outside shops.
“We currently have one request to install bollards, but historically we haven’t had any,” he said.
Businesses wanting bollards could apply to the council to be considered on a “case-by-case basis”.
Some of the factors considered included the number of ram raids, the space on the footpath, the presence of underground services that may be in the way of the bollard concrete footing, and maintenance liability.
He said widespread installation of bollards could have a negative impact on the character of the district and individual towns.
“An assessment is made of each circumstance, but it’s not a simple matter and there are many factors to be considered including how bollards affect the visual and urban environment.”
Earlier this month, Omokoroa ¯ Minimart and Takeaways owner Saed Rajput spoke out about the emotional and financial impact of being burgled twice and then ram raided in April.
He then put an application in to have bollards installed outside his store, but the council initially declined the application.
The council also received a request from the Te Puke Four Square earlier this year which it did not object to. This was because the bollard was not on council-managed land.
Whakata¯ne District Council also reported an increase in the number of requests for bollards on public land.
Transportation manager Martin Taylor said the council had not kept a tally as there had been “very few” requests in previous years but this year there had been “several requests”, some of which covered multiple businesses. Other local businesses had installed bollards on their own land and did not need permission.
It was now finalising an application form and process for businesses who want to install bollards on the road reserve or council land. This was expected to be operational shortly, he said.
After a Rotorua liquor store was ram raided twice last month, planter boxes filled with concrete had been put outside the store to prevent another incident.
Super Liquor store manager Andre Watson said he understood bollards would eventually be installed but had left this process up to the owner.
Renshaws Showcase Jewellers in Whakata¯ne was ram raided early hours on July 25.
Owner Hayley Cobb said she had been working to get bollards installed since the start of the year, but it had taken time to go through council consent processes and have them manufactured.
She now had the bollards but they could not be installed until her shopfront was replaced.
“There were other stores in town that had been ram raided, so to me it was the next thing you could do to protect yourself. But it took time to go through the processes. Unfortunately, they weren’t installed before the ram raid.”
It’s not a simple matter and there are many factors to be considered including how bollards affect the visual and urban environment Western Bay of Plenty District Council deputy chief executive Gary Allis