Letter to the Editor: the footpaths in Ponsonby Road are shameful.

Ex-Transport Minister Simon Bridges got to experience the pitfalls of unmaintained footpaths when he hit a bump and fell off his e-scooter.

The state of the footpaths in Ponsonby Road are shameful. I have seen posts of many people injured from tripping on social media, including the editor of the Ponsonby News.

Auckland Transport needs to make that a priority instead of pushing bus stops out into the traffic as they are currently doing in Three Lamps. These so called “inline bus stops” causes all vehicles to stop and wait while the bus is stopped, while they create more emissions and traffic congests to the end of the block.

Mayor Wayne Brown suggested that we should be asking, “what problem is this designed to fix?” Of course the answer is that it will allow an excuse to charge a Congestion Tax.

This project had 42 responses in the consultation process with 22 for the changes and 20 against. The dynamics of this whole area will change during the construction of the PoP development and again after it has opened. The fiscally responsible thing to do is nothing until after that is completed and save ratepayer’s funds.

Olga George, Herne Bay Ratepayer