Comment permalink

Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board member Brian Miller (far left) at the planned new entrance to the...
Mosgiel-Taieri Community Board member Brian Miller (far left) at the planned new entrance to the Mosgiel pool, while an Eden St resident stands by the current entrance. PHOTO: GILLIAN VINE
A Mosgiel-Taieri community board member believes a "deliberate" decision was made  to withhold information on changing the entrance to the new Mosgiel swimming pool.

Under the original plan, the car park entry was to stay as it was but it would now be sited further west on Gordon Rd.

Community board member and pool committee member Brian Miller said: "The board was not informed or consulted about this and the pool committee was told it was not to do with the pool."

He is concerned about safety issues the change will mean, as the new entrance is almost directly opposite the Eden St intersection. Eden St resident Colin McNamara shared Mr Miller’s concerns, and said he had made a submission to the Dunedin City Council about the problem.

His was one of 11 submissions in response to almost 200 letters circulated by the DCC in March to residents in the area. The letter asked for feedback on the proposed road junction changes.

Six of the submitters asked for the pool entrance to be changed so patrons would enter from Reid Ave.

The DCC response to this, from city services acting general manager Robert West was that it had not considered building a road across the recreational reserve, which was heavily used by the community for sport and recreation.

"A road on this site would be counter to the purpose of the recreational reserve and create a significant health and safety risk to users of the greenspace," the letter said.

With safety in mind, traffic signals would be installed at the Gordon Rd-Eden St intersection which, as well as making the new pool entrance safer and giving it two exit lanes, would make it easier for traffic turning from Eden St into Gordon Rd.

At the same time, the speed limit change from 80kmh to 50kmh will be moved further out towards Outram.

But Mr Miller said: "Nothing was to change. I want to know who has overridden the decision of the hearing commission and made these changes and who had the authority to overturn the decision."

DCC Parks and Recreation group manager (acting) Scott MacLean said the council had worked with the NZ Transport Agency, which was responsible for state highways, on the best intersection design to get people safely to and from the new pool site in Mosgiel Memorial Park.

"We are excited to be building a brand new aquatic facility in Mosgiel and look forward to seeing the project progress," he said.


 

Comments

Excellent! The more traffic signals in the main street of Mosgiel, the more big rigs and loggers will use alternative routes. This thank god is already starting to happen since the recently installed set of lights at Countdown, with trucks increasingly using Riccarton Rd keeping them away from the town centre... Bravo!

A road to a recreation activity over recreation reserve isn't aligned with recreation? What about the squash club? What nonsense. Mr West at the DCC has a fascination for politically correct waffle. He was, after all, the manager who forced the people who built the Signal Hill cycle tracks to change the names of the tracks from The Misses or The Ginger Cougar because someone from out of town complained. Mr West is one of a number of DCC managers who force their personal views onto ratepayers rather than consult and act for the ratepayers. He needs to leave this city and ruin somewhere else, thank you. 100% liability and PC wowser.

 

Advertisement