Airlie St fiasco

Re. the mayor’s letter to the editor, ‘‘Moving as one’’ (March 29): Airlie St and Seafield Terrace are used by thousands of Nelsonians and Nelson tourists annually visiting the Boulder Bank and Cable Bay walkway, so is not just for the Glen residents.

The following could be treated as a comedy if it wasn’t that ratepayer’s money has been wasted.

March 28 – gravel spread on to road. March 29 – six workers hand rake it over. April 11 – gravel chips laid on road (puddles still everywhere).

April 18, 19 – heavy machinery and six workers, road practically dug up and drainage channels and pipes laid.

May 21-25 – time to put in a temporary sewer line, so let’s dig up the newly laid drainage channel and bury it underneath.

If all of the above had been done once as one job, thousands of dollars would have been saved, and with less disruption of access for locals.

The problem is clearly absence of any planned management. No wonder large council projects blow their budgets by millions.

The road has been left weaker due to heavy machinery crumbling the road edges and digging up portions of road. No attempt to install any storm protection defences was made, so we await the next storm to finish off the road and deposit a score or more of road cones into the sea.

Ray Cannell

Nelson, June 11