MAPUA FOOTPATH UPGRADE HALTED BY ONE STROPPY CAMELLIA
Tasman District Council spent $47,000 on a plan. The plan did not survive a shrub.
A $180,000 footpath upgrade on Aranui Road in Mapua has been paused because a camellia is in the way and nobody at Tasman District Council wants to touch it.
The bush, about 40 years old, sits on the verge near the wharf turnoff. A heritage report called it "potentially significant to the streetscape character". Contractors read that as: do not go near it with the digger. Work stopped Tuesday. It has not restarted.
Ratepayer Coral Whitmore, whose driveway now ends in a trench, said the delay could be "a few weeks or possibly the whole summer, they weren't sure!" She asked three council staff who was in charge of the camellia call. She got three names. One had retired in 2022.
A council spokesperson confirmed the pause. An arborist has been commissioned to decide whether the camellia is "of sufficient character value" to warrant redesigning the path. Asked what the redesign would cost, the spokesperson said the figure was "still being scoped". The arborist is booked for late February.
The contractors, from Richmond, are on a standby rate. They've put cones around the trench and gone to a job in Motueka. One told The Daily Yarn the camellia "looks fine, honestly, it's just a bush", then asked not to be named in case the council reads it.
The camellia is flowering. Coral's driveway is not.
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Reader Letters
Trev_Hornby
Council priorities are rooted.
Garry (Richmond)
That bush better be something special if it's holding up a 180k project. Just trim the damn thing! It's only a plant, not the crown jewels!
CamelliaKiller
MATE that camellia isn't even endangered. What a piss-take!
Sandra McKenzie
A footpath or a plant? Only in NZ could such a ridiculous choice come up.
ropeable_dave
@Sandra no one cares about the camellia's potential significance. We need footpaths, not a blooming garden tour.
Jeff_RoadWorks
Bloody councils and committees! Back in my day, we would have just gotten legendary Bill to sort it with his trusty handsaw. No fuss, no drama.
LouiseM2021
The real issue is the lack of project oversight. How do you not foresee a bush on a footpath's course? Someone needs a talking to!
FumingInNelson
I'm sure the arborist will cost another thousand or more. Meanwhile, someone in council is laughing all the way to the bank with our rates.
MumOf3Nelson
Could they just plant another camellia somewhere else? Move on with this so Coral can use her driveway again. It can't be THAT hard.