John's Bakery owner John van den Berk said he contacted council three weeks prior to the leak being repaired on Saturday and said he didn't hear back or be notified of any repair. Photo / Warren Buckland
John's Bakery owner John van den Berk said he contacted council three weeks prior to the leak being repaired on Saturday and said he didn't hear back or be notified of any repair. Photo / Warren Buckland
An award winning Hastings bakery says it has lost thousands of dollars over a three-week long water leak that eventually spread into a power box and shut down the business at peak time.
Hastings District Council says although the incident was a "regrettable oversight", the water leaking into the powerbox was never a danger to passers-by.
John's Bakery owner John van den Berk said he contacted council three weeks prior to the sudden power cut about the leak, which sprang up on the Nelson St path in front of the business' back alleyway.
Van den Berk said he never heard back from the council and was not notified if any repair would be done, or when.
"It seemed like an obvious hazard because the water was leaking so much that it was going into the power box next to it which could have electrocuted someone," he said.
Contractors were challenged by having power connections so close by the site needing repairs, he said.
Thew confirmed that an after-hours callout on October 17 was responded to by council workers.
He said a temporary repair was made to allow the contractors to explore the issue more thoroughly and determine a more effective and permanent solution.
Van den Berk said that the problem was only fixed on the Saturday because someone had called Unison.
Unison Network's customer relations manager Danny Gough said they received a call from a concerned member of public after they saw kids "mucking around" with the water.
"There was no risk of electrocution but we de-energised the box as a precaution."
The council then went to work to repair the leak.
The repair of the water leak on Nelson St. Photo / Warren Buckland
Thew said the after-hours callout on Saturday was attended to within 30 minutes and service restored as soon as possible.
The repairs involving digging up the area and workers had to be precise because of electrical cables in the area.
"There was, however, a regrettable oversight, in that businesses in the area were not notified of this shut-down ahead of it happening," Thew said.
Due to the outage van den Berk says he lost thousands of dollars having to close the bakery during what was their peak time (noon–4pm) and having to throw a lot of their food away.
"It happened at the worst possible moment for us because it was right in the middle of what is our busiest time.
"Having to close down like that meant we lost thousands not only in sales but food wastage as well."
Thew said the leak was initially a small one, but finding a permanent fix had taken the council time.
Van den Berk said although it was the right decision on Unison's part to cut the power, he hopes in future a similar situation is better handled.
