Suzanne Williams

I, with a friend, have been on the streets gathering signatures for Grey Power on a petition to be sent to Parliament requesting funding for a business case for an additional river crossing for Whakatāne.  

Since the shameful downgrading of Raewyn Kingsley-Smith’s bridge petition, there appears to have been little support around the council table for the mayor for the progressing of plans with Waka Kotahi, and no progress made.  

In gathering signatures, we have found that there are some misconceptions out there, so this is an attempt to make clear what is going on.

Our Landing Road bridge crossing was built in 1962, adequate at the time, and carries water pipes and electrical and communication cables.  

As anyone knows who uses that way out of town, it is at capacity and vulnerable to seismic disturbances and flooding risks.

There is an alternative: the very old, single-lane Pekatahi Rail Bridge, which is located 15 kilometres south of Whakatāne and also vulnerable to seismic and flooding risks.  

It is currently being surfaced (again) which should certainly help, and its sub-structure is in good condition.

It should continue to be a valuable asset for heavy traffic.

However, the Landing Road bridge will continue to be the default option for the bulk of residents, as it always has, failing funding for another one.  

The Grey Power petition is requesting Government funding for a business case (which alone can cost up to a million dollars) for a second bridge in Whakatāne as a priority infrastructure project “to serve the district’s commercial, growth, resilience and emergency needs”.

Just where this bridge will be situated is a matter for the roading and bridging engineers and would be covered in the business case.

The petition may still be signed at the Beacon office and Mann Print next door.

As anyone who tried to evacuate their Whakatāne home in the tsunami alert shambles knows, if this threat had materialised, there would have been many deaths and casualties, my cat and I included.

I do not use my cellphone much, or listen to the radio, and I am not alone in this.

Why do they not use a continuous fire siren? Perhaps no one cares about my cat and I.

On that subject; at the next Grey Power meeting, at 10am on July 16 at Knox Church, we will be hearing from James Jefferson, the acting director of Emergency Management Bay of Plenty. I anticipate some curly questions for him to field concerning toilets and drinking water “up the hill” for a start.

■ Footnote: There have been many Bailey bridges used in the Cyclone Gabrielle disaster, and elsewhere.

■ Question 1: If they are so good, quick and cheap, why are they not used in a permanen capacity as a long-term replacement for the old concrete ones?

■ Question 2: Some people have given as a reason for not signing the petition that they don’t think that it will succeed.

If that is used as a criterion for doing nothing, what a dull and uninteresting old world it would be, don’t you think?