Road to reopen after 'trench warfare' | Northland News | Local News in Northland

A bitter, ongoing and sometimes physical neighbourhood battle over the closure of a rural section of road may soon be resolved after an about-face decision by the Kaipara District Council.

The council  agreed in principle to reopen the disputed section of Cames Rd, Mangawhai, currently closed to traffic by a trench.

The council had closed the section of road to vehicles in December 2008 after complaints of dust, excessive vehicle speed and other safety factors. It maintains the "legal public" road was never officially fully open but had been used as a thoroughfare after a developer illegally formed a section connecting the east and west ends of the road.

Concerns were raised when an ambulance was forced to take a 45-minute detour because the trench was not known to emergency services.

Access issues and excessive stormwater running on to a property caused by the runoff from the bund have created major difficulties for one resident, while others claim the closure limits emergency services and creates
a meeting place for criminal activities.

Despite  a number of meetings since the closure, no solution was found.

A breakthrough was achieved earlier this month when all parties agreed the status quo was not an option.

At Wednesday's meeting, following much debate, and several attempts at a number of recommendations including a notice of motion by Cr Bill Guest being lost, the council agreed to the reopening in principle, subject to a specified report.

Cr Julie Geange queried whether the council was limiting itself by not exploring all  options, including limited access.

 Ms Geange noted a full report had already been done in September 2009 by engineering consultants CPG.

She queried why it had not previously been considered since it contained much of the information required. Chief executive officer Jack McKerchar said he was unaware of the report's existence.

Councillor Julia Sutherland requested an amendment be included in the approved resolution that would recommend council immediately move to prevent  stormwater running on to Christine Wech's Cames Rd property and that access issues were also dealt with. Cr Sutherland also requested that Terralink be notified of any changes to the roading status so that emergency services were not compromised
by any subsequent changes.

Paul Wightman, who has consistently called for Cames Rd to be reopened, said he was pleased they finally had a result and that all residents were united in this decision.

"We only hope it is not going to be a long, drawn-out process," he said.

He said he was delighted the issues that had seriously disadvantaged Ms Wech had also been dealt with. "She is rapt,"
he said.