North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Bridge delayed after consent mix-up
Construction of a long-awaited pedestrian bridge and footpath on a dangerous stretch of Albany road has been delayed.
The work on Gills Rd was scheduled to begin by January this year but cannot go ahead because it is still awaiting resource consent. The project, which is being managed by Auckland Transport, aims to make improvements to the once-rural Gills Rd.
It includes a separate pedestrian crossing at the existing one-lane vehicle bridge and a footpath from the bridge up to Living Stream Rd.
As reported in meeting minutes from December 13, the Upper Harbour Local Board was given timelines during 2016 stating that resource consent application was in process and the project had gone out for tender.
However, in December the board was informed resource consent was not processed, and the project would be cancelled - an announcement which alarmed board members.
‘‘We had falsely promised to residents that it was going to built - that footpath was meant to be constructed in DecemberJanuary, and [Auckland Transport] haven’t even got the consent for it,’’ Upper Harbour Local Board chairwoman Lisa Whyte says.
‘‘We have taken at face value a commitment made by another department of council and been left looking stupid to our residents.’’
In a statement, Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan says it was never Auckland Transport’s intention to cancel the pedestrian bridge.
‘‘The wrong information was given to the local board, there was a misunderstanding of the link road options [between Gills and Oteha Valley Rd],’’ he writes.
‘‘When we realised the information was incorrect we went back to the local board to rectify the situation. AT apologises for the confusion.’’
Hannan says resource consent requirements showed that the project is in an environmentally sensitive area which meant further investigations were required. It is now intended that the revised consent application will have been lodged by the end of January, with tendering dependent on the time taken to process the consent. Whyte says she has requested a letter of explanation and apology also be issued by Auckland Transport.