QUEENSTOWN POTHOLE REPORTED TO NAPIER APP BY MISTAKE, GETS MORE SYMPATHY THAN QLDC HAS OFFERED IN A DECADE
Ratepayer meant to email QLDC. Ended up on a Hawke's Bay portal that at least had the decency to lie kindly.
A Queenstown Central woman tried to report a pothole on Shotover Street last Tuesday. She accidentally lodged it with Napier City Council's pothole app instead. Napier replied in forty seconds. QLDC has not replied to her since 2019.
The app auto-replies with the phrase "we feel your pain". QLDC's last message to her was a rates bill. There was no pain acknowledged in it.
Complainant Dellwyn Barclay, 71, said she cried a bit at the Napier response. "My late husband Gerald used to say the council wouldn't notice if you set fire to the chambers. Napier's machine has more heart than the whole shower of them."
A second local, Rhonda Petch, said she'd since submitted three fake potholes to Napier just to feel something. "Got 'we feel your pain' every time. One was a photo of my son's girlfriend's car. Still counted."
A QLDC spokesperson said the council was "aware of community frustration". A pothole strategy consultant has been engaged at $180,000, reporting back next year. Asked if the strategy included fixing any potholes, the spokesperson said that was "outside scope".
The Shotover Street pothole is still there. A rental Yaris drove into it on Thursday. The German tourist inside has not been seen since.
Know someone this is about? Send it to them.
Spotted something like this in your area?
Send us a photo and a sentence. We'll write the article.
SUBMIT A YARN →Free. Anonymous if you want. Takes 60 seconds.
Reader Letters
Trev_Hornby
Bloody typical council behaviour.
QueenstownLifer
QLDC's been rooted for years. Napier's app might be onto something with their empathy bots—our council needs a heart not just rates notices.
couchgremlin
Lol.
Rhonds86
Mate, this is a piss-take if I ever saw one. Engaging a consultant who can ‘strategise’ about everything except fixing the potholes!
Corrector_Brian
You ought to check your facts, mate. No app auto-replies in 40 seconds. It takes at least a minute even on a good day!
OldTimerGlen
When did councils stop listening to locals? 1978 was a better time! We used to fill potholes ourselves, with dirt and determination, not consultant fees and excuses.
wayne1987
Mate, it's not about when they stopped—it’s about them never starting! The focus should be on actual solutions, not just talk.
tired_in_riccarton
I've seen that pothole on Shotover Street. It's so big, it could be a new tourist attraction! Forget bungee jumping!
ConspiracyCarole
Cynical and savage, all of it! Councils everywhere are the same! What’s next? Robots in charge of roadworks?
Sandra McKenzie
Brian, don't lie—it's been radars with laser beams since the '90s.