Neighbours of a toddler who drowned in a west Auckland stormwater drain told today how a manhole covering the drain was regularly forced up after heavy rain and numerous complaints were made to Waitakere City Council.
They were giving evidence at the Auckland inquest into the death of 2-year-old Aisling Symes, whose body was found in the stormwater drain in suburban Henderson on October 12 2009, eight days after she disappeared.
Resident Stacey Baker told Coroner Garry Evans she rang Waitakere City Council several times about the drain, which often flooded her garage.
"I was told a contractor would be sent to investigate," she said.
"The majority of times I rang I never heard back from anyone."
Another neighbour, Bonaventure Gasana, told the inquest he had seen the manhole cover upside down several times. He was concerned that a child could fall into the drain.
He got into the habit of checking it every day, and would put the manhole cover back on when he saw it had come off.
Sandra Bond, product specialist at Housing New Zealand (HNZ), told the inquest a tenancy manager at HNZ noticed water flowing from the manhole in 2008.
She had advised Waitakere City Council about the problem, but did not know what more had been done about it.
An HNZ annual inspection in 2009 discovered the manhole cover was still popping off, but any work that had been done had not resolved the problem.
Ms Bond agreed there was a risk of a child falling in to the drain, but said there was no further intervention by HNZ to get it fixed.
Aisling went missing while playing with her five-year-old sister Caitlin in the garden of their home while their mother cleaned the property ready for sale.
Constable Gareth Needham told the inquest yesterday that while searching for Aisling he found the manhole cover upside down leaving a small gap.
He thought it was "highly unlikely" she could have fallen through the manhole because he thought it was too heavy for Aisling to move it by herself.
The inquest was set down for three days.
