Aisling's funeral to be held on Friday

Aisling's body was recovered yesterday morning. Photo / Supplied

The funeral for west Auckland toddler Aisling Symes will be held on Friday.

The service at the Ranui Baptist Church, where the family worship, will be lead by Pastor Russell Watts.

Aisling's parents Angela and Alan Symes have, through police, said the service will include family tributes and music in memory of their cherished little girl.

The funeral will be followed by a private cremation service for Aisling.

Acting Chief Coroner Garry Evans has opened an inquiry into the two-year-old's death.

It will eventually lead to an inquest into the cause and circumstances of her death.

Aisling's body was found in a stormwater pipe about 8pm on Monday night, 36m from a manhole cover at 5 Longburn Rd, Henderson. She had been missing for over a week.

Aisling was with her mother at 7 Longburn Rd, the home of her deceased grandparents, when she disappeared.

Waitakere City Council has been meeting today to discuss issues around the concrete pipe drain in which the west Auckland toddler drowned.

Locals have criticised the council for not acting on complaints the cover over a manhole on the drain would be lifted by torrents of water during times of heavy rain.

Last night police spoke to the Asian woman they wanted to contact over Aisling's disappearance, but say they are satisfied she is unable to help them.

The woman was a central figure during the week-long investigation into the toddler's disappearance.

After initial searches proved fruitless, it was feared Aisling had been abducted.

Yesterday police still wanted to speak to the woman, despite Aisling's body having been recovered, and a post mortem examination revealing she died by drowning.

Inspector Gary Davey today said police found the woman last night.

"We've talked with her overnight and are satisfied she's unable to help us further," he said. "I'm unable to provide specific comment on the woman's discussions with us but she is no longer part of our inquiries relating to Aisling's disappearance."

The drain in which Aisling was found had been the subject of four complaints to the Waitakere City Council, and at least one person raised safety concerns after a build-up of water blew the manhole cover off.

The drain, which is 37.5cm wide and runs at a depth of 1.4m, feeds into Lincoln Stream behind Longburn Rd.

Police found the manhole cover dislodged during the initial search for Aisling, but it was too heavy for her to have lifted.

Inspector Davey yesterday said the decision to re-check the pipe was made in a review of the investigation, which was at a dead-end.

More than a metre of soil had to be excavated and obstructions cleared before Aisling's body was found.

Mr Davey said it would have been impossible for her to turn around in the drain.

One west Auckland drainlayer - who did not want to be named - told the Herald he immediately thought about the manhole cover after hearing Aisling's body had been recovered.

He said he had raised concerns about it with the Waitakere City Council a year ago, after making a closed-circuit TV inspection of the stormwater line.

"It's an old lid that should have been replaced ages ago. When we came across that we let the council know. They pop up in bad stormwater."

Sonya Carrington, a former tenant at 5 Longburn Rd, said the main reason she moved was "because I didn't want my kids down that drain".

Waitakere Mayor Harvey last night told Close Up he was now aware of the four previous complaints, but did not know what action had been taken.

"I feel disappointed more than angry. I don't think it's a time for anger."

He said he was surprised the people concerned about the drain had not mentioned it to the police during the search.

Waitakere City Council spokesman Wally Thomas said the city had received a complaint on September 11 that the manhole cover had lifted off.

Workers found large willow tree roots in the drain and began "the process of deciding how best to go about removing them".

Asked if that decision was made before Aisling went missing, Mr Thomas said: "No, sadly, not."

- with Newstalk ZB, NZ Herald Staff