Residents of Earlham St in Christchurch are sick of their broken, pothole-ridden, flood-prone, "third world" road - and the city council's apparent refusal to permanently fix it. Video / Logan Church
Residents of Earlham St in Christchurch are sick of their broken, pothole-ridden, flood-prone, "third world" road - and the city council's apparent refusal to permanently fix it.
The street is one of the few in Brooklands, Christchurch city's northernmost suburb, that was not "red-zoned" after the Canterbury earthquakes. Much of the land subsided, making it more at risk from flooding.
Resident Kerrie Rodrigues and her family have lived on Earlham St for 30 years. They fought to have their land red-zoned as well but were unsuccessful.
They had been asking the Christchurch City Council to permanently fix their street, which, 10 years on from the first earthquake, still had damage, was regularly filled with potholes, and had no drainage.
That sometimes made driving over it impossible - residents were forced to drive on the grass alongside the street. The lack of drainage also meant residents faced regular flooding during bad weather - sometimes for months on end.
Kerrie Rodrigues says her land is "worth nothing" because of problems with the road. Photo / Logan Church
"We have potholes everywhere ... when it floods, we have really bad flooding," Rodrigues said.
Attempts by the authorities to remedy the situation were totally inadequate, she said.
On Monday, Rodrigues arrived home to find some potholes filled in, but the material used was already cracking and becoming loose, and some potholes were missed entirely. A cover in the street also appeared to have been partially sealed over.
"We were shocked and disappointed, to say the least ... is this all that our ratepayer money go to?"
Residents say some potholes are already reforming after they were filled in earlier this week. Photo / Logan Church
Previous attempts to fill potholes had also not worked, she said, as the material used had chipped away "within weeks".
Rodrigues said she could not sell and leave – she had contacted 10 property valuers and they all said her property was "worth nothing" if issues with the street and drainage were not fixed.
"Without the council doing something with the road we can't do anything; give us infrastructure and drainage," Rodrigues said.
If the street could not be sealed properly and drainage installed, Rodrigues said at the very least she wanted a meeting with the council and the mayor to discuss their future.
A few houses down the road, Mandy Neil was limping.
One resident, Mandy Neil, injured herself after tripping over a pothole. Photo / Logan Church
In June, she was wheeling her rubbish bins to the end of the road when she tripped.
"With all the potholes I mis-stepped and as I dragged the carts behind me, they were full and heavy, and one bucked up against heel and it hit my Achilles tendon and it's been really sore ever since," she said.
"The sorer it gets the crosser I get."
She described the "third-world" road as a "rutty old farm track".
"It looks exactly like the back blocks of Fiji where I used to teach at a children's home ... It just amazes me we are in Christchurch city."
Neil wanted the street fully sealed so it was safe to walk and drive on.
Christchurch City Council head of transport Richard Osborne described Earlham St as a "low-volume rural road" that had flooding issues before the earthquakes.
"The road has been routinely inspected and minor repairs have been done to maintain safety and access," he said.
Earlham St in Brooklands, Christchurch. Most of the suburb was "red-zoned" after the earthquakes. Photo / Logan Church
Osborne said the council was planning to repair the Earlham St seal in the coming weeks as part of the council's normal maintenance programmes.
"We will also re-metal and grade the section of unsealed road to the last house access."
