Shed decision delayed

Despite overwhelming demand, a decision on the contentious Birkenhead Wharf bike shed has been delayed until after the election.

Kaipatiki Local Board officers were investigating if the $66,000 bike shed could be moved.

A report on options was requested by September 11.

If the report wasn’t finished, four members were to make a decision anyway using a $40,000 budget.

But it has been pushed back until after the Auckland Council elections.

Several options will come to the new board and it is up to members to have read up on the issue before making the call, Kaipatiki chairwoman Lindsay Waugh says.

Residents and community groups are angry the shed was put in at the end of the wharf, claiming it blocked the view and created several safety issues for young people on the water.

A petition opposing the shed, which can store 30 bikes and 10 scooters, gathered 628 signatures.

Auckland Transport investigated and said the spot at the very end of the wharf was most suitable, Ms Waugh says.

Ms Waugh says there was a “keenness from the board to meet the call for cycle storage” at Birkenhead Wharf.

“We are trying to meet competing needs of a number of users in a finite space.

“We seem to have missed a step on this one,” Ms Waugh said last month.

The Birkenhead Residents Association says it is supportive of cycling facilities but the shed’s spot is inappropriate.

Chairwoman Gillian Taylor says the community wants the shed relocated and to be consulted on any similar public works in future.

Credits:

Written by: Jess Etheridge
Published: Auckland Now / North Shore Times – 24 September 20123
– © Fairfax NZ News

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