TAURANGA COUNCIL INSTALLS EV CHARGERS ON MATUA VERGE WHERE NO CAR HAS EVER PARKED
Two units, four bays, one very confused retiree who thought it was a bus stop upgrade.
Tauranga City Council has installed four EV chargers on a stretch of Levers Road verge in Matua where, according to three neighbours, a car has never voluntarily stopped.
The chargers went in over two days last week. Fresh kerbing, concrete pad, signage warning drivers not to park unless charging. The nearest parking bay is 180 metres away, outside the dairy. The verge slopes toward a drain.
Margaret Whelan, 71, who has lived opposite the site since 1988, watched the whole thing from her sunroom. "Six blokes, two utes, a digger, and a woman with a clipboard. I asked what it was for. She said 'future-proofing'. Future-proofing what? The grass?"
A neighbour two doors down, Rangi Paikea, said he'd seen one EV try to use them. "Bloke pulled up, got out, looked at the slope, got back in and left. Didn't even plug in."
A council spokesperson said the location had been selected following a "network optimisation study" by an Auckland consultancy, and that usage was expected to "grow into the infrastructure". Asked whether anyone had driven past the site before picking it, the spokesperson said the study was "desk-based".
The chargers remain live and unused. Margaret has started calling them "the fridges."
More yarns from Matua Council Chaos
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Reader Letters
★ BarryBishopdale
What a bloody waste of rates money!
★ Garry (Halswell)
Wouldn't have happened in my day. We had better standards for such decisions. The council seems lost these days.
★ Trev_Hornby
Six blokes, two utes, and nothing to show for it. Typical clipboard munters wasting time.
kiwi123
mate that's not even what they said
couchgremlin
Lol.
MumOf3_Riccarton
I'm with Margaret on this. Future-proofing what exactly? The drainage system instead?
local_sceptic
Imagine if they consulted the locals for once instead of some desk-based study. Rangi's got the right idea!
DaisyFromTauranga
The council's at it again. But seriously, it's not as bad as those new subdivisions they're putting up everywhere. At least these chargers won't obstruct our nature walks!
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