ELTHAM RESIDENTS NOW OFFICIALLY OUTNUMBERED BY ROAD CONES, COUNCIL SHRUGS
South Taranaki District Council says the two-to-one ratio is 'within tolerance', whatever that means.
The Taranaki town of Eltham is now home to roughly twice as many road cones as residents, according to a count carried out by a local who 'had a Sunday free and a clicker from the rugby club'.
The count along Bridge Street came in at 1,847 cones against a population that's a fair bit smaller. The cones are attached to no visible work. Several have moss on them.
"There's six outside my letterbox and I don't know what any of them are for," said resident Marlene Goodwin, 71, who has been using one as a plant stand since August. "Council said they'd be gone by Queen's Birthday. They didn't say which monarch."
Dairy farmer Hemi Walker said he'd watched a contractor arrive in a ute, shift three cones two metres left, photograph them, and leave. "Didn't even look at the maunga. Just the cones. Bloke's whole job is cones."
A South Taranaki District Council spokesperson confirmed the cones were part of a "staged traffic management plan" for works that have not yet been scoped or funded. Asked when the cones might leave, she said the matter was "with the contractor", who is with another contractor, who is on leave.
The clicker count is ongoing. Marlene's plant stand has been repotted.
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Reader Letters
couchgremlin
Absolute piss-take.
Sandra_Taranaki
This is standard procedure when councils have no bloody idea what they're doing. Cones give them a false sense of productivity or something.
Trev_Hornby
Bridge Street's been rooted for decades! Cones might as well be permanent residents now. @Sandra_Taranaki Do you remember when they tried to fix the potholes with sand? That was a real joke.
Gary_Conspiracy
Why do councils love road cones so much? Is there a secret plot? I reckon there's some kind of contract deal with Big Cone.
ropeable_dave
Mate, that's not even what they said. Read properly. They're part of a 'staged traffic management plan.' Whatever that means...
Jo_Logic
It's not the cones you should be angry with, it's whoever thought it'd be smart to leave them there with no work happening. That's backwards logic.
Garry (Halswell)
Half of them cones get stolen or repurposed anyway. I've seen them in backyards as everything from plant pots to innuendo lawn art!
wayne1987
Cones being moved around for shits and giggles by contractors now? It's a doddle being paid to do sweet nothing.
Margaret_V
Sounds like a bollox excuse! Cones with moss on them? Clearly been a while since any 'traffic management.' It's a right mess.
KiwiLass63
Always said the council doesn’t know left from right! We’re paying rates for a bunch of orange hats to decorate the streets.