A long-term Kerikeri resident is upset the Far North District Council has ignored a decision by a Stone Store Basin management group calling for a river crossing to be removed.
After the Stone Store road bridge across the Kerikeri River was demolished in mid-2008, a series of stepping stones and two
concrete slabs were placed across the gaps in a natural bridge so people could still walk across when the river was low.
A footbridge was later built upstream but the ford remained, until January's storm dislodged one of the slabs.
A recent meeting of the Koropiro/Kerikeri Basin Management Group, which has representatives from the Department of Conservation, the Historic Places Trust, the council, iwi and others, voted to remove the stepping stones and slabs for safety reasons. The group also felt the ford was unnecessary now that a footbridge had been built.
However, at a meeting last week, Far North District councillors voted to repair the flood damage and leave the ford in place, despite a staff recommendation to remove it or at least put up warning signs.
Councillors said the ford was hugely popular.
But Kerikeri man Charlie Smellie is outraged that councillors ignored the management group's decision and a recommendation by council staff.
He knew of at least two occasions when an ambulance had been called down to the Basin after accidents, one of them a broken ankle.
"I'm upset the council has taken it so lightly and ignored everything that's gone on. If someone loses a life or gets badly hurt down there, I'll be pointing the finger," he said.
Mr Smellie was not concerned about the slabs, but said the stepping stones, which are glued on to the underlying rock, were slippery and a danger to older people.
"The stepping stones have to go. They're a licence to kill," he said.
The council should at least put up warning signs so it would not be liable.
Mr Smellie has previously campaigned to have a broken path removed at the Basin, and got into hot water for building a series of steps down a slippery bank without clearance from the Historic Places Trust.
He said he felt a strong affinity for the area because he had learned to swim at the Basin as a boy.
