Another fall at Mangonui

Danny Simms' prototype fence, which he says could be built over 50m in three hours. Photo / Danny Simms

An Auckland woman fell into the harbour from the nib wall on Mangonui's Waterfront Rd on Thursday evening, in precisely the same place that 89-year-old Anthea Goodwin fell, and died, 48 hours earlier (Elderly woman's death referred to coroner, September 17).

The woman, believed to be around 50, was still badly shaken next morning according to Sue Oxley, who hosted her at Doubtless Bay villas, although her only physical injuries were abrasions on one leg, suffered as she was helped back on to the road.

Friends and members of Ms Goodwin's family, who had gathered to remember her, went to her aid.

Like Ms Goodwin, the woman had dined at the Thai Restaurant, on the waterfront, before falling. The tide was in, and she swam some distance to retrieve her handbag before being helped back to the road.

Mangonui resident Danny Simms said he was "really angry" that two people had fallen from the road in 48 hours, after the Far North District Council spent hundreds of thousands of dolars proptecting the public from falling on the safest stretch of the waterfront.

The section of road south of the Neva Clarke McKenna Boardwalk was very dangerous, he said, with only a concrete nib wall between the road and the sea. When the tide was out the fall would be some three metres, on to rocks and shells, while the climb back to the road would be almost impossible, particularly in pitch dark, as was the case on both occasions last week.

He offered a simple solution in the form of a "stumble fence," which he said could be erected quickly and cheaply.

He subsequently erected a "prototype" fence, which he later removed pending approval from the council, which he said yesterday could be built over the 50m between the end of the boardwalk and where parking was no longer permitted at a cost of $1000 by "three good men" in three hours.

The risk of falling extended well beyond where parking was permitted, he said, but it was passengers who were getting into or out of vehicles parked on that side of the road who were in greatest danger, with only the three-inch nib wall between them and the harbour. The driver of the Auckland woman's vehicle on Thursday evening had deliberately parked well out from the edge, but still she had fallen as she returned to the car.

"It's extremely dangerous," he said.

"If you've had a few wines - and I'm not saying this woman had - or if you're elderly and a bit shaky, over you go."

Simms added that he had "gone ballistic" at Mayor John Carter, and was now waiting for the council to approve his solution. If approval was forthcoming he would have the fence in place this week, whereas if it had to go through the "normal channels" it would likely take months.

Legal issues

Mayor John Carter was unable to say yesterday whether a temporary fence on Mangonui's waterfront would or would not be erected, but pointed to potentially significant legal liability issues.
"You can imagine the uproar if the fence is built and a child falls off it and is hurt or dies," he said.
"That would raise all sorts of issues regarding who was liable, with the council at the head of the queue.
"I understand Danny Simms's frustration, and I don't dispute the danger of the situation as it is, but a temporary structure that would probably be irresistible to small children might make it worse."
He understood that Simms was speaking to the working group that was driving further waterfront development at Mangonui, which in turn would be discussing it with the council's infrastructure and assets manager, Andy Finch.