Planters’ nails and stakes defence ‘horrid’
Several planter boxes on the sidewalk of an Auckland town centre are raising safety concerns because of spikes and nails placed around them as protection.
The preventive measures were put on 14 planter boxes in the Helensville town centre by Holly Southernwood to stop people from sitting or leaning on them, or picking the flowers.
The planters are in front of a building she owns which houses several shops, including the Work and Income office, a bank, two cash machines and a pharmacy.
The New Zealand Transport Agency has ordered the nails to be removed.
Southernwood said she only wanted to help beautify the town centre and funded it from her own pocket.
But Parakai resident Arlene Barber said Southernwood’s preventive measures were extreme and dangerous, especially to children.
‘‘She’s taken over a huge part of the main street,’’ Barber said.
‘‘Kids, being kids, do try and pick the flowers but they will get hurt.
‘‘It’s just horrid.’’ Another resident, who Stuff has agreed not to name, said Southernwood even had surveillance cameras to monitor the planters, and yelled at people who went near them.
‘‘She stuck nails around the entire edge of the planter boxes so no-one could lean or sit on the boxes.
‘‘Not long after that she put up stakes around them too so no-one could touch the flowers themselves.’’
A NZ Transport Agency spokesman said the agency had received complaints about the flowerboxes last year.
‘‘The agency asked for the nails to be removed for safety reasons.
‘‘The nails were removed but replaced with wooden stakes which were also considered unsafe,’’ he said.
The agency revoked the approval granted for the planters to be on the footpath, and gave Southernwood an ultimatum – ‘‘if the nails weren’t removed, the boxes would have to be taken off the footpath’’.
He said the nails were removed but since then, wooden stakes had been placed on the boxes.
But when Stuff visited the site on Tuesday, some nails were still on the boxes.
Southernwood said she had removed most of the nails but would get to the rest when she had time.
‘‘Most of them have been hammered down but the ones that are still there, I’m confident that [they don’t] pose any safety concerns ...[I] don’t think children can get to it because stakes are there now.’’
Southernwood said NZ Transport Agency did say that it would remove the nails and stakes but never did.
‘‘People were sitting on them all the time and breaking the plants, it was just terrible.
‘‘And now the stakes are there, it’s not happening at all.
‘‘I’ve spent thousands of dollars, and I hate to think how many hours, creating and working on them ... I’m not doing this for myself, I’m doing this for everyone to enjoy.’’
NZTA said it would visit the site next week to assess whether the wooden stakes were a safety hazard.
‘‘Kids, being kids, do try and pick the flowers but they will get hurt.’’
Resident Arlene Barber