Resident angered after cycle event turns parts of park into bog
A FAIRFIELD man says it is absurd the city council allowed a cycling event to be held at a park over the weekend, turning parts of it into a bog.
Brian Pollock is angry after a cycling event at Fairfield’s Walton Park on Sunday left parts of the Dunedin City Council reserve in a mess and he wants to know why it was allowed to go ahead.
A muddy track has been left around the field from the event, which has become waterlogged in sections.
Mr Pollock said he had no issues with cyclists using the park, which has a dedicated cycle track, but it was obvious the ground was going to be damaged by bicycles being repeatedly ridden over it.
‘‘I’m just totally amazed the council allowed such an event to go ahead on such a waterlogged ground and maybe the official would have noticed the mess they were making.’’
While the track avoided the sports field it cut across large parts of the reserve, which was well used by walkers.
‘‘It’s just really annoyed me because there’s a lot of local residents who use the park to walk their dogs or fitness but now there are some parts the only way you can get around is with gumboots.’’
Council parks and recrea tion contracts manager Gareth Jones said council staff would inspect the ground and assess what repairs, if any, were needed.
Management of the city’s grounds in the winter included closing them if it seemed likely their use would cause damage, Mr Jones said.
As part of the council’s booking process, the likely impact of an event on a ground was assessed and if an event directly caused damage, those hiring it were expected to pay for repairs.
There had been no complaints about the damage at Walton Park as of yesterday afternoon, he said.
‘‘We encourage people to let us know directly if grounds are damaged.’’