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Eastbourne Herald www.eastbourneherald.co.nz
21 NOVEMBER 2015
Ph 562 7500
Cyclist upset over A tiptoe through the tulips... coast speedsters by Emily Tilley Increasingly, there seem to be more drivers hurtling around Pencarrow Coast Road sending gravel flying into the faces of walkers and cyclists, but it’s a problem that could have a simple solution, local resident Ewen McCann says. Mr McCann says the issue came up at a Point Howard Residents' Association meeting, spurring him to write to Hutt City Council and present his ideas to the Eastbourne Community Board at their last meeting. “My experience is that the volume of motorised traffic on the road has been increasing over the past two or three years,” he told the board. The problem doesn’t seem to be with authorised vehicles, which are driven consistently carefully and whose numbers don’t appear to have increased greatly, Mr McCann said. Instead it is unauthorised 4WDs, motorbikes and scooters that are travelling fast. As a cyclist who rides the road up to three times a week, he finds himself shielding his face in protection from flying gravel as they pass. These vehicles appear to be driven mostly by divers who are making their way to the prohibited fishing zone near the sewerage outfall where they are harvesting shellfish, Mr McCann said. “This exposes them to water borne diseases.” While a key-card system is used at Burdan’s Gate and each use recorded, the gate at the southern end of the road is controlled only by a padlock and key. Mr McCann surmises that the unauthorised 4WDs are using the southern gate for access. Keyholders lending out their keys and the easy duplication of the standard keys are probably the source of unauthorised traffic, he said. If a swipe-key card system like the one at Burdan’s Gate was added to the southern gate the
Inclement weather didn't quell the enthusiasm of around 100 people who took part in the St Alban's Garden Tour on Sunday. Eighteen homes from Lowry Bay to Eastbourne opened up their gardens to visitors for the afternoon. The tour demonstrated the hours of toil and creativity put into gardens by their owners with many being the culmination of decades of work. Hidden gems tucked into the hills or behind garden gates were revealed: a maze of paths and bridges through bush in York Bay, a large steeply terraced garden in Kotari Road, more than 1000 perfectly clipped miniature box hedges behind a house in Muritai Road and a Mediterranean-style garden in Oroua St that turns the back of Sergio and Son Automotive into a garden feature with an antique country feel. Visitors took inspiration from plantings such as in the Kowhai St garden pictured above.
unauthorised traffic would be deterred, he said. The heights of both gates could also be increased to stop motorcyclists lifting their bikes over the gates, he said. Council parks and gardens manager Bruce Hodgins said the gate at the south end of the road is owned by Greater Wellington Regional Council, however “we can talk to Greater Wellington about how they manage the gate”. He pointed out that people with swipe keys can also lend out their keys. Monitoring at Burdan’s Gate shows that traffic using the swipe key cards over the last 12
months has been well within guidelines, he said. Within that time council only had one complaint from the public, which was about people hoisting motorbikes over the gate. “Anecdotally buses and trucks drive carefully on the road, while some cars are not so good, he said. “Possibly some are people who live out there,” he said. Reminders to drive slowly along the road are sent out annually to the main users reminding them to drive slowly. “I think the policy is working reasonably well… it’s up for review in 18 months time,” he said.