Roadworks communication rubbish, say Ohaupo businesses
Months of roadworks halved sales for an Ōhaupō bakery, leaving the owner dipping into her savings and considering closing the doors.
A nearby cafe owner is decrying “rubbish” communication about things like contractors drilling outside the business.
Work began last November to refresh the footpath, put up sheltered bus stops and add a pedestrian crossing to the busy Great South Road. It was expected to be finished by March, but delays meant there’s a few more weeks’ work.
Sreymom Ty says sales halved at her business of seven-and-a-half years, Ohaupo Bakehouse Cafe, and she considered shutting for good.
She’s dipping into her savings and delaying her tax return, she said.
Once she was asked to shut for six days due to road work delays then - after getting up at 4am to prep - opened on the seventh day to find concrete pouring blocking customers.
“They asked us to open the back door, but how can people walk through the kitchen to get to the front and choose their sandwich?”
Ty decided to shut the bakery on that day and chuck away the pies, sausage rolls and cream doughnuts.
Asked about the issues, Waipā district council acknowledged the “extra inconvenience”, but said contractors are responsible for updating and talking to local businesses - as stated in the contract.
The managing director of contractor
Basecivil, Paul Roberts, said workers are told not to communicate with businesses, “that’s the role of a project manager.”
He didn’t agree with everything he heard about broken communication, but said the company is doing its best to finish the Ōhaupō job.
At the bakery, Ty’s got another issue that’s not about communication: the angle of the widened footpath could create flooding outside of her shop.
She told the contractors in January but was reassured that water wouldn’t come right to her door. It eventually did on a rainy day last weekend.
A council staffer who visited never replied about what will be done, she said.
Council transportation manager Bryan Hudson said they’re looking into Ty’s waterway issue, and that communication feedback is a “lesson learned”.
Down at Top Deck Cafe, Jenna Clarke knew when she opened a year ago that disruptive roadworks were coming. She asked the council to work together to reduce the impact. But after a few rounds of emails, she felt her concerns were “falling on deaf ears”.
“The communication has been really absolute rubbish,” she said. “It would alleviate a lot of the frustration if we knew what was happening.”
“If I knew you were going to block my driveway, I probably wouldn't have made all that food, I would probably tell my part-timer to come in later. I would organise my business a lot better.”
Clarke knows work was done in sections to minimise the disruption, but contractors showed up outside her shop and started drilling without any prior notice.