Picture by Paul Rickard
Gisborne District councillors have an opportunity to change the Gladstone Road Bridge parapet design when they meet for a Future Tairawhiti meeting on Thursday.
Mayor Meng Foon has called for an urgent report to be considered in an attempt to change the final design of the bridge.
“This can’t wait,” he said.
Last week, as part of the project to widen the Gladstone Road Bridge, the seaward side concrete wall was temporarily removed.
The new view as people drive over the bridge has spurred a steady river of emails and phone calls to The Herald and to Mr Foon asking if the walls can stay down and be replaced with rails so people can enjoy the view.
Mr Foon says the first Gladstone Road Bridge, a wooden bridge built in 1885, is the heritage.
It was replaced with the concrete-sided structure in 1925.
One strong advocate for the bridge walls to come down, Derek Allan, said in a letter to Mr Foon it would seem there was no allowance for public comment on what was, not surprisingly, being seen to be an extremely controversial matter.
“Nor does it appear that the Mayor and councillors have had any input on the design proposal under way.”
Mr Foon said this was right.
“At no stage did the council see pictures of the revamped Gladstone Road Bridge. The council only saw a recommendation from the Regional Transport Committee for the council to adopt.”
The Regional Transport Committee might have seen the plans, he said.
“It has always been, in my time as Mayor, that should the Gladstone Road Bridge have a revamp, we wanted to see the river, the water that breathes life and mauri.”
An earlier report said the bridge only had a limited life and this was later revised and the bridge had long-term life.
'Oh, the battle of engineers'“Oh, the battle of engineers.”
At the time of the first report, Mr Foon asked then chief executive Lindsay McKenzie to see through what the council wanted.
For the latest changes to the bridge, Heritage NZ, Historic Places Tairawhiti and the Regional Transport Committee did not seek public input, Mr Foon said.
“Heritage NZ and Historic Places Tairawhiti hold the key.
“They could agree with our thoughts, which I believe is the original heritage profile, or fight tooth and nail to have an ugly concrete mass.”
“The original bridge had see-through sides. Later it was replaced by concrete. If this was about heritage, the see-through sides would have been reinstated then.
“If the public was consulted, this might never have now been an issue. The majority of our community support a see- through side,” Mr Foon says.
He wants to see the financial impact, positive or negative, to having see- through railings on the southern side of the bridge.
“Then we can have a debate on cost facts and timeliness.”
'See-through sides might be cheaper'It might sound bizarre but see-through sides might be cheaper,” he said.
Mr Foon sent his thoughts to all councillors yesterday, receiving a positive response from councillors who replied.
Councillor Amber Dunn suggested applying for a variation to the consent.
“That’s all that is needed isn’t it? We’ve never seemed to hesitate to vary the wastewater consent . . . and continue to do so . . . so let’s do the same here.”
“I see an opportunity for a creative resolution (win-win).
“Are we able to integrate both elements? Some heritage panels at the beginning and end of the bridge and then see-through for the rest?
“Lets combine both requirements and get a better outcome altogether. Both matter, so lets get creative, within budget of course.”
Gisborne District Council lifelines director David Wilson said the project was an NZTA project, not a Tairawhiti Roads one.
The council was delivering it through Tairawhiti Roads so would need NZTA to agree to any change.
Heritige NZ also had to agree to any change.
There were significant costs in changing the contract specifications, including paying for the works already done, he said.