92-year-old hopes to live long enough to see street repaired
Andrew McDougall is 92-years-old and just wants to live long enough to see his “dangerous” street and footpath repaired.
For more than 10 years now, McDougall and his neighbours have been calling on the council to fix the bumpy footpath on Wyon St in Linwood, and also replace the deep kerb, reseal the road, and improve the lighting.
They also want measures put in place to help reduce the speed of vehicles, because the street is used as a “race track” and they are worried it is only a matter of time before someone is killed or severely injured.
The work was supposed to be done before the 2010/11 earthquakes, but since then council spending on street renewals has significantly reduced and the street was not considered a high enough priority, council head of transport Lynette Ellis said.
However, residents were led to believe the work was finally going to happen when the project was earmarked for funding via the previous Government’s $300m Canterbury Regeneration Acceleration Facility (CRAF), announced in 2017.
About $40m of that was set aside for transport projects in the suburbs and was received by the council in March 2020.
Residents went to meetings with council staff and looked at possible designs and were excited about the work finally being done.
However, on Friday last week they found out the Waitai Coastal Burwood Linwood Community Board had removed the project from the CRAF funding at its April 8 meeting, 11 days prior.
The cost, which also included the adjoining Hulbert St, had skyrocketed from $2.3m to $6.5m.
The board had just $6.5m allocated to it from the CRAF fund so decided to remove the project from the programme in favour of pushing ahead with other projects including upgrading a slip lane outside Linwood Avenue School, and making pedestrian safety improvements on other Linwood and Woolston streets.
The project is one of a number of CRAF-funded programmes delayed due to cost increases. Community boards across the city have been reprioritising projects since October last year.
McDougall, who relies on a walker to get around, said he would love the council to honour its commitment to regenerate the “disgusting” state of the street now. “Don't put it on the back
burner again – it is my ambition to see the work done before I meet my maker.”
He said the footpath was difficult to negotiate and he fell over at the kerb while trying to help his friend into the car recently.
“The work needs to be done. I have lived in Wyon St for 57 years with wonderful neighbours and a great community which deserves better.”
McDougall said he felt like the residents were being treated with contempt, especially since they were not told the possible delay was being discussed.
Neighbour Lesley Willoughby said it was “pretty gutting” to hear the work had been stopped once again.
Willoughby, who has lived on the street for 40 years, said she received an email from the council telling her about the April 8 decision on Friday. The message advised her to make a submission to the council’s 10-year budget, the Long Term Plan, which closed for consultation just two days later.
McDougall said he only found out about it when Willoughby forwarded him the email. They both managed to scramble to get a submission in, but would have liked more time. The cost had increased due to four main issues, Ellis said, including higher contractor rates, the need to remove greater quantities of coal tar and considerable underground piping was needed to remove the deep-dish channel.
Linwood ward councillor Yani Johanson said the council just needed to get on and do the project. It had managed to find additional money when other projects including cycleways had gone over budget, he said.
The street would now be considered for inclusion in the maintenance resealing programme for 2025/26, but Ellis said no final decisions had been made because testing to prioritise a city-wide programme was under way.