Traffic island pulled apart in protest

An activist was taken away by police after tearing up a traffic island in central Auckland yesterday.

Lisa Prager began “disassembling” the island at the intersection of Richmond Rd and Surrey Cres with a sledgehammer and crowbar yesterday morning.

Prager was protesting Auckland Transport’s construction of a cycleway through the road, which she described as a “hazard” in the neighbourhood.

She claimed Auckland Transport had agreed to halt work on the project, but had then started to paint in the cycleway.

“It’s turning into a major war,” she said.

Prager was there for about two hours before she was pulled away by police.

An Auckland Transport spokesperson said they had called police after reports of a woman inside the cordoned-off work site.

The spokesperson said: “We were very concerned about public safety . . .”

A police spokesman confirmed officers attended an alleged “wilful damage incident” at the Richmond Rd and Surrey Cres intersection.

“A female is helping us with our inquiries and there is no further information available at this stage,” he said.

Prager is a veteran protester who has previously refused to pay Auckland Council’s rates increases.

She also spent five days either sitting in a tree or occupying a digger on Quay St this year as contractors began to remove trees from median islands. — Alice Peacock