Locals slam ¯ra¯Okei boardwalk changes
Residents say a metal railing ruins view and is a waste of money
retain the rustic wooden railing. “Our local community is livid with this extraordinary waste of our money . . . a hideous new 1.4m metal ‘prison cell’ that looks ridiculous in this environment and obstructs the view,” he said.
Champtaloup sent the Herald photographs of a shared cycleway and walkway along the Shoreditch canal in London without any fencing.
“It’s on the water’s edge. There is no 1.4m galvanised metal balustrade to ruin this cool natural waterway. Sanity and enjoyment prevail,” he said.
Local resident Amanda Wilkinson, who walks daily around the basin, said the metal railing was ridiculous and a waste of money.
She shared Champtaloup’s view it would be exceptionally unlikely for a cyclist to heave themselves over a 1.4m-high railing.
Meanwhile, ra¯kei Local Board chairman Kit Parkinson has given an assurance that links will be created along the shared path for children from Meadowbank to bike or walk to Selwyn College and St Thomas’s School in Kohimarama.
Ellerslie resident Matt Hancock, who has children at both schools, raised the alarm after he received an email from the NZTA saying that although John Rymer Place near the two schools would be used for access while building the path, it “won’t be directly connected to the shared path as part of the project”.
Selwyn College principal Sheryll Ofner said she was alarmed at the news because the growing number of students travelling to the college from Meadowbank by bus or car was causing “huge congestion”.
But Parkinson said links from the new path to John Rymer Place, Gowing Drive, Tahapa Crescent, Kepa Bush and potentially a direct link to Selwyn College were the board’s “highest priority for this next year’s plan”.
He said the local board had allocated more than $2m for the links and the main Auckland Council had committed a further $6m for a bridge or, more likely, an underpass under the railway from Gowing Drive to the two schools.