Dear Phil and Co
I would like to invite you all to an amazing part of Auckland Supercity. The best time to visit is in winter after some rain. Don’t bother coming in summer, all you will see are brown hills and you’ll get covered in dust. In winter, driving the local roads of Rodney such as Stoney Creek, Kanohi, Haruru, Makarua, Tahekeroa, Burnside, Jordan, O’Neill, Inland Rd and many others, you will get the full experience of mud, flooded roads, slips, trees cleared by the locals on their way to work, road shoulders caving in, damaged signs, one-way bridges and potholes.
The potholes are there to challenge your driving skills and car reliability. Hit them at your peril; don’t cheat by cutting corners or driving on the wrong side of the road.
Who knew there were third-world roads in a modern first-class city? A city that prioritises cycleways and train sets over repairing and maintaining roads.
Local board members, Phelan and Beth, will tell you not to stress about the state of the local roads (locals are always moaning about their roads to AT), but throw some metal into the potholes and that will shut them up for a few weeks.
Phelan will remind you about the Rodney transport targeted levy he promoted to the locals. Clever plan to introduce a transport target levy (a local tax) through which the locals thought their roads might be fixed. Instead, it was used for a bus service. They should be very grateful for a bus service they paid for – unlike other areas whose bus services come from a general transport fund, funded by all ratepayers. The state of the roads the locals have to drive or walk on to get to the bus stop is not a concern.
So Phil and Co please come and visit. It is less than an hour’s drive from your office. We look forward to your first visit to the area and to share the experience us locals face every day, especially the potholes.
Signed a Pothole Dodger.
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