Sunday, 18 September 2011

Dumping on our doorstep?

Those of you that read The Press have probably seen articles on proposed dumping of earthquake waste in Papanui. Here are links to the articles:
Margaret has expressed her concern to Ngaire Button (Deputy Mayor) and has sent the following email to Peter Croucher (Papanui Community Board Advisor): 
To: "peter.croucher@ccc.govt.nz"
Sent: Thursday, 15 September 2011 5:54 PM
Subject: DEMOLITION DUMPING IN PAPANUI
Hello Peter
   I am making contact so that our concerns regarding the proposal by Ceres to use the site in Cranford Street Papanui are on record.
   The primary concern is that of traffic and the impact that the proposed 600 truck movements per day will have on the area. It is assumed that some of these movements will be by both truck and trailer unit of 40 t weight.
   No proposed routes of the trip for these vehicles from the CBD to the dump site has been mentioned but whether it is by either Papanui Road or Cranford Street it will impact severely on already congested road routes.
   If the 300 movements in to the site were to take place over a 10 hour working day that would mean that one truck would arrive on the site every 2 minutes with one truck leaving in a similar time frame.
   If these trucks were to make their way to the site via Papanui and Main North Roads it would bring these congested roads to near standstill. If the route was to be Cranford Street it would no doubt force other traffic on to Papanui Road having a similar effect.
   There would be little or no hope of public transport maintaining its current scheduled service.
   Both Cranford Street and Papanui Road/Main North Road are already severely congested with early-morning traffic and again at both 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. in the afternoon.
   The resultant increase in traffic flow on these routes will be to the detriment of not only the residents in the area but also those that try to conduct businesses along these roads.
   There are also concerns over the increase in pollutants left by these vehicles and their loads.  They will increase immeasurably the noise in the area, petrochemical contaminants, dust and contaminants blown by wind from their loads .
   It is suggested that it would be more suitable if a site is found for this operation that can be accessed easily by multilane road.
Yours sincerely
Margaret Howley
St James Avenue Residents' Association