John Laing said the new mix was already lifting and leaving gaps in the seal. Photo / George Novak
Residents of several Bethlehem streets are fighting the use of chip seal on their roads saying it is "not acceptable" and causes ringing in the ears.
They are asking the council to apologise and replace it with tarseal.
A petition with 66 signatures to get flat seal roads was presented to commissioners at a Tauranga City Council meeting on Monday.
John Laing spoke on behalf of petitioners who called for the bitumen to be replaced.
"Rectify this immediately," he said.
Laing said on hot days, the "cheap mix" would stick to everything, including the underside of vehicles when it was thrown up by tyres.
Other reasons listed in the petition included the bitumen stuck to shoes and ended up in houses, wore out tyres fast and would cause serious lacerations if anyone fell off a bike.
Laing said the bitumen mix had been placed on Victoria Rd in Mount Maunganui.
"You have apologised to the residents of Victoria Rd of the Mount and have now given them a date for replacement.
"We expect the same," he said.
"We, the petitioners, require an apology and the removal of the stone mix of bitumen and for this to be replaced with tarseal as it was before.
"You went to place this rubbish mix on us therefore it looks like a deliberate vendetta on residents on Pembroke Drive, Saltwood and Allington St," he said in the council meeting.
Laing said he had spoken to a "very well qualified" Higgins manager on Saltwood Lane about the issue.
"The manager stated he could not understand why the council would place coatings on this area."
Tauranga City Council's general manager of infrastructure Nic Johansson said a policy determined whether the seal would be "like for like" (asphalt on asphalt), or a "fit-for-purpose replacement" which meant the chip seal.
Johansson said residents often questioned the council why chip seal was used when the asphalt was in perfect condition, but when asphalt had been in place for over 10 years, "it does get cracking in it".
"From what I understand in this instance, the treatment selection is something we would stand by in terms of our policy and if there were quality issues with the application, that's something we would need to follow up on."
Johansson said the manager of transport operations Russel Troup went to the roads after the council got the petition and "established maybe the sweeping was sub-par after application but other than that he was okay with the quality of application".
Johansson said asphalt "can be up to 10 times as expensive" as chip seal.
Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency only funded 51 per cent of the cheapest option, which was chip seal, he said.
In response to the comments made by the Higgins manager, Johansson said treatment selections were often proposed by contractors and was happen to discuss it with the individual.
"We then need to go through an approval process to make sure it fits with the policy."
Johansson said he was not familiar with the background of Victoria Rd and would follow up.
Commissioner chairwoman Anne Tolley said Laing had a "significant amount of petitioners" and a possibility was a targeted rate to help fund asphalt.
"Because it's about 10 times more expensive - but that might be something you're willing to consider to get a particular quality in your area."
Laing told the Bay of Plenty Times he got the impression the council would come back to him with "all sorts of suggestions".
"I haven't got any guarantees yet – it's a little soon," he said.
"We're looking for a quality product back on the top. I want this fixed properly.
"They haven't come back to me yet and I'm giving them time to talk to me."
When asked if Laing would consider paying a targeted rate, he said: "I believe you would buy the best product and you would get twice as long out of it. It doesn't cause damages like the cheaper stuff does and cause problems."
Laing said he had been in touch with Tolley a few times over the issue and was pleased with the way she handled it.
"To me, she's a very good chairwoman."
Tauranga City Council was also asked about what happened to asphalt when it wore out, why in this case it was deemed fit for purpose to use chip seal, and to respond to additional comments made by Laing but was unable to respond by deadline.
A disregard for authority could be why those attending court are thumbing their noses.