Dannevirke: Safety fears for town's creek

Colin Veale

The creek which runs along Dannevirke's Barraud St is a pigsty and a danger to young children, local resident Gary Stevens believes.

"The creek is overgrown and if a little kid fell in I reckon they'd drown because searchers would never find them," Mr Stevens said. "The water in the creek isn't moving and is chokka with watercress."

Mr Stevens said he had been treated like a ping-pong ball and shunted between Horizons Regional Council and the Tararua District Council as he tried tried to get the creek cleaned up.

"I've been chasing people for 10 years to get something done.

"Horizons told me it wasn't their problem and Colin Veale of the Tararua District Council said he used to have community workers from the Corrections Department clean it out, but they're not able to do that job now. This is so frustrating because previously the creek was cleaned out and sprayed, now I've been told they (council) can't afford it."

Kathy Dever-Tod, the council's assets team manager, told the Dannevirke News the town's stormwater system was part of the Alliance contract and she would discuss the situation with them, but lack of money would not hinder a clean-up.

And although she said the community-worker projects were out of the council's control, there were also restrictions on who could work at such sites: "Volunteers just can't go into a site like that and do the job."