A spike in the thefts of road signs and equipment from
streets surrounding the university and stadium has Fulton
Hogan staff seething.
Fulton Hogan is the Dunedin City Council contractor charged
with traffic management plans for road closures around Otago
Stadium associated with the Rugby World Cup games being
played there.
Fulton Hogan traffic manager Reg Ozanne yesterday told the
Otago Daily Times he blamed students for the surge in
thefts, after he saw photographs of some scarfie flats with
detour and rest-area signs.
Stolen traffic signs and equipment cost the company thousands
of dollars, a bill which was passed on to the DCC and
ratepayers, he said.
Road detour signs cost an average of $150 each, while traffic
cones were $90 each.
"You add all of them up and that is a lot of money which is
going missing on a regular basis."
A "huge amount" of extra road signs and equipment had been
brought to Dunedin for Rugby World Cup traffic management, he
said.
The theft of road signs, allegedly by students, was not a new
problem in Dunedin, Mr Ozanne said.
"We have an amnesty for signs to be returned at the end of
each year, but students steal them that often, it makes no
difference," Mr Ozanne said.
University campus Constable Max Holt said there was no
indication students were entirely to blame for any increase
in the "phenomenal" amount of signs going missing, given
there were also many visitors in Dunedin, Const Holt said.
He warned students they could be charged with theft if they
were found to have taken road signs or equipment.
Students who had road signs could return them to the
proctor's office or any police station, Const Holt said.
"It would be nice to get a lot of them back," he said.
The Otago University Students' Association was taking a
proactive stance, a spokesman said.
"We encourage any students who have road signs or anything of
that nature to get in touch with us so we can arrange the
return of them to the owners".
The association did not condone any illegal behaviour,
including the theft of property, he said.
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