Wetherstons Rd resident Judith Tromp attended a recent Lawrence-Tuapeka Community Board meeting to raise her and neighbours’ concerns about ‘‘excessive’’ road dust.
Mrs Tromp said visitors to the Lawrence daffodils and former Hart’s Brewery at the end of Wetherstons Gully, and those attending events at the nearby gymkhana ground, raised significant amounts of gravel dust each time they passed the five properties located there.
The Lawrence daffodils open for two months from September, and attract about 1500 visitors each spring.
Summer events at the gymkhana ground include an annual gymkhana, a rodeo, a car show, and a drag race, which together attract several thousand further visitors.
Mrs Tromp said she had first raised the idea of sealing the road with the council in 2008, but had been turned down because of cost.
As the council planned to seal the road as far as the gymkhana grounds this year, she was making a renewed appeal to have the seal extended to the end of the road, about an additional 500m.
Also present at the meeting was Wetherstons Brewery and Daffodils Trust chairwoman Simone Budge, who said she supported ‘‘improvements’’ to the road, although she stopped short of endorsing a full seal.
She urged the council to ensure the road surface was safe and well-graded in time for the coming season.
Council service delivery group manager Jules Witt said the council would research options for the board to consider at its next meeting.
‘‘The council has had no rural seal extension budget since 2009, but has now identified some demand for this among ratepayers,’’ he said.
Other options included a ‘‘semi-permanent’’ seal that could last for five to seven years.
Mrs Tromp said an offer from the council in November, to co-fund about 100 metres of seal outside their properties at a cost of $4212.50, had been declined by the group.
‘‘The whole road needs sealed for safety as much as anything else. I just hope [council] takes our concerns seriously.’’
