WANAKA’S INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Wanaka & Cromwell
Final weeks!
Last chance to view our Northlake show home. 574 Aubrey Road open 2-4pm Saturday and Sunday.
1 Old Station Avenue open 11am-1pm Saturday and Sunday.
Fiery finale for Warbirds SUN NEWS
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Email: sales.centralotago@stonewood.co.nz Wanaka 03 443 5229 | Hayley 027 383 3024 | Alastair 021 662 222
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INSIDE:
New bike track open PAGE 6
King of Sticky Forest Ben Oliver leads Craig Oliver in the men’s open section last weekend. PHOTO: BARKING CAT PICS
Training for Challenge PAGE 9
Accidents cause concern for residents Ten crashes along two stretches of road in the last six weeks GLENDA TURNBULL Wanaka Sun wo stretches of Ballantyne Road, a partially sealed road running from town right through to State Highway 6 near the airport, has seen 10 vehicles leave the road on gravel sections in the last six weeks. At the Wanaka Community Board meeting last Wednesday (February 10) Mount Barker Residents Association Secretary Chrissie Thomson addressed the meeting with concerns at the amount of crashes that had occurred in the last month on Ballantyne Road.
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Sticky Forest Queen PAGE 15
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the state of Ballantyne Road since 2011. Lack of funding was cited by Councillor Lyal Cocks as the reason more otta sealing was not able to be done,” Chrissie said. David Allen, a resident for the past 25 years, said the council needed to address the situation urgently. “I’m getting sick of my fence being modified. So many people seem to be using the gravel roads now and at the moment with the dry weather the gravel is loose and thick. There is a major power pole just past my driveway and vehicles have only just avoided it,” David said. Chrissie said there were a number of varied issues on the road,
pest control
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“Where the seal turns to gravel before the airport lots of vehicles have left the road. Nobody has been killed yet, but vehicles have been towed away. There have been eight crashes on the road within the last month alone,” Chrissie said. The accidents have occurred on two sections of the road, six at the airport end and three at the Wanaka end. Chrissie said her concern was the Queenstown Lakes District Council were not doing anything about the issue. “We [Mount Barker Residents Association] have been contacting the council about our concerns with
spiders flies fleas ants silverfish borer wasps cockroaches carpet beetle moths
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including the kind of gravel used, the undulating terrain, the changing surface from seal to gravel to seal, dust in summer preventing visibility and the road is slippery in winter. She said the QLDC had ‘some’ otta sealing done on the worst parts after having an on site meeting in 2011. QLDC deputy mayor Lyal Cocks said at last week’s meeting the council is looking at alternative management options for Ballantyne Road. “The real issue is there is no subsidy to seal it. It is parallel to a State Highway, so won’t get national funding,” Lyal said. Story continues page 2...
we’ll take care of it