8 minute read
Safety nightmares on Kerr St
A near accident involving his twin daughters has prompted local resident Tim McBride to campaign for safety improvements on a busy Devonport Street. He took his case for traffic-slowing measures on Kerr St – which runs beside Devonport Primary School to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board’s community forum last week, – armed with a letter from school principal Beverley Booth, stating that visibility and safe crossing were ongoing concerns.
McBride told the board his daughters and three friends had come close to being hit by a vehicle when crossing Kerr St after an outing to The Vic Theatre in February.
“Five girls were nearly taken out at speed,” he said. This had prompted his “keen layperson’s interest” in how the road could be made safer.
He also pointed to an incident on the evening of 11 May, when a cyclist travelling down Victoria Rd was injured in a collision with a car turning into Kerr St.
The busy section of Kerr St running down from St Aubyn St and Mays St to Victoria Rd was a particular problem area, said McBride.
With parked cars on either side, the stretch was effectively reduced to one lane, meaning traffic tended to speed through from either direction to find clear passage before another vehicle approached.
In regular walks along Kerr St past the school, McBride, a civil-liberties lawyer and former member of the Devonport Community Board, said he had witnessed a number of near misses in recent years.
“Something needs to be done before there’s a really serious accident or worse,” he told board members. He suggested installing two raised pedestrian crossings, similar to one in Westwell Rd, Belmont, to slow traffic and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
One crossing could be located where there is currently a ramped pram-crossing below the school; another near the bottom of Kerr St, at or near the top of the footpath that leads down to The Vic.
Pedestrians crossing the road to head up the maunga often did not appreciate the risk local traffic posed, he said.
Due to parked cars, they did not see rapidly approaching vehicles until the last minute. “On occasions, pedestrians are forced to take evasive action, when speeding cars appear from nowhere.”
Principal Booth said in her letter that the school had previously asked for yellow lines to be extended to help make junctions along the road safer. This request had been declined by Auckland Transport (AT).
“Narrow roads, parking and vehicle speeds all combine to cause safety concerns,” she said.
Board members were sympathetic to the concerns, noting the road was a narrow and often congested cut-through.
“I totally agree with you,” member Toni van Tonder told McBride. “They speed through the Victoria Rd zebra crossings too.”
She suggested Kerr St be added to the traffic-speed evaluation AT was currently doing on central Devonport. Another possibility was for the road to be made one-way.
McBride’s presentation was received with thanks, and will be passed on to AT, with the board to be included in AT’s response to McBride.
McBride also alerted the board to separate issues at the Church St end of Kerr St. Here, some drivers treated the stop sign as a “give way” or ignored it altogether, he noted.
This was dangerous for those travelling up Vauxhall Rd, who wished to enter Church St but could be met by drivers unexpectedly coming out of Kerr St.
Safety campaigner… Tim McBride wants action over traffic issues in Kerr St
By Rob Drent
While the opening up of Devonport-Takapuna Local Board workshops is a welcome step in improving the flow of information from Auckland Council to the public, the council bureaucracy remains resistant.
Under the law, all information held by the council (and government) is public unless there is a good reason for witholding it – for example, for reasons of commercial sensitivity.
However, in many instances councils will withhold information simply because it is inconvenient and, at times, embarrassing, to supply it to the public or media organisations.
A couple of months ago, the Flagstaff requested information from the council around some legitimate areas of public concern.
We asked for the breakdown on how much it costs to plant and maintain Devonport’s public gardens, and if the expenditure would be cut back due to the Covid-19 budget restrictions.
The Flagstaff also sought the costs of maintaining and cleaning the old Devonport Borough Council office, which has been closed for three years, and the Devonport Library maintenance costs since it opened.
Surely line items a cash-strapped council could find fairly easily in its budget?
Not so simple, apparently.
“Auckland Council’s maintenance contracts are paid on an outcome basis and are calculated across all Auckland Council managed assets. As we do not pay per asset, we are unable to provide a breakdown for maintenance costs as you have requested.”
Taryn Crewe, general manager of community facilities, was the officer who made the decision to refuse to supply the information.
We don’t think an inability to provide the information is good enough reason to refuse to do so, and appears unlawful. We will be appealing the decision with the Ombudsman.
I’d noticed a few more tourists – most likely Australians – around town in the last couple of weeks, clutching our Destination Devonport guide as they walked up Victoria Rd.
Things are on the way to getting back to normal, said a couple of retailers I chatted to. Not for long, unfortunately, with the closure of the travel bubble with Sydney after a person with Covid visited Wellington.
As health experts said, the situation was made much worse by the fact New Zealand remains largely unvaccinated. The chaos caused by one Covid-positive case in Wellington puts the government’s poor vaccination roll-out in a very poor light.
I interviewed an 80-year-old in early June and he had been given a vaccination appointment in late July. I’m in group 3, and was supposed to have been vaccinated in May. I have yet to be contacted regarding an appointment.
The North Shore has only one vaccination facility at Birkenhead (with another soon to open in Albany) We cannot be isolated forever – while well protected initially, the team of five million is being let down by the government’s snail-like response.
Local sports teams having a good run provide a welcome tonic to the onset of winter. North Shore is top of the premiers rugby table, and while the club has had some narrow wins, it looks a good contender for the North Harbour championship this season.
Twenty years ago, North Shore won the championship with a 23-12 win over arch-rivals Takapuna. Coached by Grant Simpkins, that was a fine side, including the likes of Willie Walker and All Black Craig Newby, alongside club stalwarts like James Hinchco, Paul Vegar and Phil Weedon.
Likewise, North Shore United Football Club is having a strong season, making a good fist of the highly competitive Northern premier league. It has won through to the fourth round (last 32) of the Chatham Cup.
Both codes are drawing good crowds.
Tauranga has been using bike racks on the fronts of buses for years. One reader suggested while not cheap to install, they are only a fraction of the $800 million price tag for the proposed pedestrian and cycle bridge.
To our valued patients,
We are pleased to announce that
Dr. Adeel Punjwani has joined as a new dental associate at Devonport Dental. He is from the North Island, with over 15 years of experience in providing personalised dental care to families in NZ and Australia. We are thrilled that he is now part of our clinical team. We are glad to say that
Dr. Andrew Steele and Dr. Adeel Punjwani will both be practising at the surgery. Our vision is to build the
and we hope to make you smile!
DEVONPORT DENTALCARE 445 0097
Dr. Andrew Steele
BDS Otago Dr. Adeel Punjwani BDS MPH (UK) C-Implants (USA)
Crowds flock for traditional midwinter plunge
Stars and stripes... A selection of swimmers soak up their post-dip high after braving the wintry waters
Crowds of hardy swimmers gathered at Windsor Reserve last Sunday for the annual Devonport Midwinter Swim.
Dressed in a variety of costumes, 168 eager locals registered to take the plunge.
But organiser Amanda French estimates that including support crew, this year’s event had more than 300 attendees.
“It was brilliant to see so many locals getting involved, and it was probably one of our best turnouts ever.”
French hosted this year’s event, alongside Chris Mullane, Devonport’s Druid, officiating over the exhilarating charge into the icy blue at precisely midday.
The 1st Devonport Scout Group were on hand to fire up the sausage sizzle.
“It was such a fun day,” says scout leader Cliff Brown, “We’re so grateful to the Devonport Peninsula Trust for inviting us back this year.”
Delicious hot soup was provided free by the Officer’s Mess.
Concluding the occasion, prizes were awarded to some of the bestdressed locals.
Be prepared... Devonport Scouts provided the sausage sizzle: (from left) Keiran Koit, Cliff Brown, Zara Nelson, Hayley Law, Anna Stevenson and Alex Oldfield
The waiting is the hardest part... A selection of participants, at least one in seasonally appropriate headwear, prepare to hit the briny at the beach beside Windsor Reserve
