Concerned residents make plea to board to get roads sealed
OMAUI
CONCERNED Omaui residents have appealed to their community board to get busy roads sealed, saying they have been left a state of anxiously waiting for a bad accident to happen.
John Collins has lived in Omaui 10 years and said that in that time he had seen how road usage in the small coastal village had been noticeably increasing.
The increased use of the route was driven by beach visitors and a new subdevelopment in the village.
He told the Bluff Community Board on Tuesday evening about 40 people had signed a petition to get Omaui and Mokomoko Rds sealed.
The petition was delivered to the Invercargill City Council and staff, and the group aimed to get the community board’s backing.
Mr Collins said both roads were dangerous, with ruts, corrugations, potholes and metal drifts.
‘‘Cars have left the road because of them.
‘‘These accidents go unreported because locals tow them back on to the road and nobody has been seriously injured yet.’’
There was a dangerous stretch of about 4km, he said.
Among the petition signatories were the rural delivery man and
YMCA South, which has a camp in the village.
Its accompanying letter explained children walked from the camp to the beach, which was dangerous with vehicles passing and no kerbing.
Board chairman Raymond Fife said the group had some good, valid reasons, and agreed it was not that great a road.
Committee member Noel Peterson recounted his first drive down the roads.
‘‘When I came to Bluff four years and 11 days ago, I went to Omaui in my little Ford Ka car.
‘‘I just about wrecked it going up and down on the corrugations, so I decided I wasn’t going to venture down that road too often.’’
Present at the meeting was council roading manager Russell Pearson, who suggested a submission be made in the consultation on the longterm plan.
The council was tasked with taking care of about 600km of roading, 120km of which was unsealed, he said.
‘‘I guess for every one you will do, you’ll find somebody will be unhappy.’’
Sealing 4km of road would cost about $1 million, and it would be unlikely to be subsidised by the NZ Transport Agency, Mr Pearson said.