Editorial: Do the job right the first time

Linda Hall, Assistant Editor, Hawke's Bay Today.

One would think that after the disaster with the traffic islands built in the carpark when The Park Megacentre opened on Karamu Rd, the Hastings District Council would have learnt a lesson.

But no. It seems a whole lot of ratepayers' money has again been spent on a roading project that has had to be fixed.

After complaints from residents on Joll Rd about people speeding along it, the council installed four islands from the Tanner St intersection through to the Campbell St intersection.

They were designed to narrow the road, therefore slowing traffic.

The council claims it has served its purpose and slowed traffic. However, residents say they have made the road dangerous and named the islands "concrete coffins".

Now the council has decided that maybe they are right. It is changing the islands' design because an audit has found there was concern the islands were not "mountable''.

So it is going to reduce the height of the centre pieces by half, to 100mm, and add sloped edges to ensure they are mountable.

Same as the carpark at The Park Megacentre. The speed bumps, or islands, were a disaster and they, too, were modified.

I could say good on the council for fixing its mistake but I'm not going to.

It needs to get it right in the first place.

How about proper planning before spending what I imagine would have been thousands of dollars instead of an audit after the fact which results in spending thousands of dollars more?