Quick fix for faulty footpath

A man who injured himself when he tripped on an uneven section of footpath near his home says he is pleased the fault has been quickly fixed.

Earl Foreman, of Grey St, Waitara, bruised his tail bone and possibly aggravated old injuries when he fell last week.

The quick fix was due to the New Plymouth District Council’s policy of addressing safety concerns along its roading network in a timely manner, infrastructure manager David Langford said.

‘‘I started into one fall and then I tripped over my own walking stick and injured my tail bone,’’ Foreman, who tripped on the same section of footpath a couple of years ago but wasn’t injured, said.

The 74-year-old, who had to have his spine fused and multiple other operations on his back after a fall at the Nelson Freezing works in 1972 , said he was happy to see the New Plymouth District Council had evened out the footpath within days of him reporting it . ‘‘They were there the next day.’’ Foreman, who has also previously had a knee replacement, was now waiting for an appointment to see a specialist to assess exactly what damage had been done in the fall.

Langford said the council managed 1400km of roading network and carried out routine patrols to identify faults but he wanted people to contact them if they discovered defects.

‘‘We have a lot of infrastructure to look after so if they see something that they believe is a safety issue I would encourage them to report it to us.

‘‘We have a number of different response times and it really depends on the nature of what has been reported.’’

Langford said if the issue was safety critical contractors would respond within hours while safety concerns would be addressed within seven working days.

He said the fault didn’t required urgent attention during the last couple of years.

Foreman said he would now be surveying the town’s streets and making the council aware of any concerns.