Shafted by elevator closure
Warning needed, says scooter user
AWhanganui resident who relies on the Durie Hill elevator to access town is f rustrated t he council didn’t give him warning about its closure.
A fault has been found in the 9 9 - year- ol d el evator and t he Whanganui District Council said it may be closed for between four and six weeks.
“During t hi s peri od, al l mechanical parts will be overhauled and new cables will be installed,” the council said on its Community Link page in the Whanganui Midweek.
It’s the second time in less than a month there’s been an issue with the lift.
It was closed for a week a month ago after an inspection found maintenance tasks needed to be done sooner than expected.
Harold Spencer lives on Durie Hill and said he didn’t know the lift was shut until he went to use it.
“We’ve just moved in here and I bought a little mobility scooter and I got approval to use the lift because it was so light,” he said.
“[It was] three days before I managed to get down to try it out for the first time. The whole t hi ng was j ust padlocked with no notice whatsoever — that’s when I inquired at the council because I didn’t think it was good enough.
“I think there should have been a warning the minute they shut it down to alert those that use it.”
He said the lift was the only way f or a number of Durie Hill residents, especially the elderly and the children, to get into town and back up the hill.
Meanwhile, Spencer’s wife was driving him up and down the hill.
The council’s notice in the Whanganui Midweek came out on Wednesday but it did put a message on its Facebook page last Friday.