Wonky footpath builder not a fan of design

Curvy footpath on Te Ranga Memorial Dr, at The Lakes subdivision. Photo/file

The man who built a curvy footpath which gained national attention this week says he is not a fan of the design but was simply following council orders.

Developer Classic Builders was responsible for the construction of the footpath on Te Ranga Memorial Dr in The Lakes subdivision. The wonky path is the only one of its kind in the entire area of the development, which is yet to host any houses.

It featured in headlines this week after disabled people raised concerns they would struggle to use it.

Director Peter Cooney said Tauranga City Council did not want the footpath to go over infrastructure such as reticulation.

"Rather than dig up the whole water main, they wanted to make the footpath go around it. If there was any issue . . . it future-proofed those properties.

"I disagreed with it personally," Mr Cooney said.

"In Auckland, they build over those services. We need to start thinking the same. Those services will inevitably be under a footpath."

Mr Cooney said cutting out "a bit of footpath isn't the end of the world" and the chances the council would need to do that were quite slim.

"If you go through the rest of the world, through Europe, etc, you don't see too much berm area. We've got to get with the times, especially as we get into greater density (of housing)."

Mr Cooney said the suggested design was the quickest and fastest solution for ensuring a path was created but did not run over any services.

"I don't think it's the end of the world. Once you get trees and fences going, half the people won't even notice."

Mr Cooney said concerns raised by members of the Disabled Person's Assembly, that they would not be able to use it, should be raised with the council.

"We only worked with the particulars allowed to us."

"When asked how much the path cost in comparison to other straight paths in the area, Mr Cooney confirmed the curvy path cost more but it was "of no real consequence".

Tauranga City Council spokesman Marcel Currin said the position of the footpath was determined according to where the contractor had installed their water main.

"[The] council would not allow them to build a footpath directly over top of the water main and instructed them to find a solution."

He said Tauranga had other footpaths that curved to accommodate trees - including further along the same road.

"The length of those curves are a bit longer and not so visually noticeable," he said.

The council would continue to work with developers to find aesthetically pleasing solutions to infrastructure challenges.