Car park pothole repaired, warning posted

A new trip hazard warning sign and repaired pothole in Dowling St car park yesterday. Photo by...
A new trip hazard warning sign and repaired pothole in Dowling St car park yesterday. Photo by Craig Baxter.
A woman's bloody fall in a Dunedin car park has prompted the Dunedin City Council to repair a pothole and erect a ''trip hazard'' warning sign.

Lili Stanley (74), of Mosgiel, who ''celebrated'' the new year at Dunedin Hospital after tripping in the pothole and badly damaging her face, said the council contacted her yesterday to tell her a ''trip hazard'' warning sign had been erected and the pot hole where she had fallen was repaired.

The council also proposed to pay for her trousers that were ''shredded'' from the fall.

Mrs Stanley said she was pleased with the offer.

She was also assured the safety record of the car park would be investigated further.

Mrs Stanley wanted people, especially the elderly and the pregnant, to be careful when using the car park to avoid more injuries, she said.

Council Citifleet team leader Brent Bachop said more warning signs would be erected at the car park early next week.

Council contractors would be ''smoothing out the whole area'' in the next two weeks.

Mrs Stanley was not the only person to fall on New Year's Eve because of the pothole, Mr Bachop said.

On Tuesday, a University of Otago lecturer had contacted the council to report he had fallen from his bike after hitting the same pothole, Mr Bachop said.

Contractors had told the council the pothole was created by heavy rain at Christmas, which had created a ''slump'' in the tarmac. The undulating surface of the car park was due to a building being demolished on the site in the 1950s or 1960s.

''They dropped the building, threw a bit of gravel on top and turned it into a car park - that is why it is continuously moving now. Instead of taking the old rubble and wood away, they've just covered it over.''

- shawn.mcavinue@odt.co.nz

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