Aske Phoebe: Southbound tunnel among options to replace viaduct

A digger breaks through to open up the tunnel on the corner of Beaumont St and Fanshawe St during construction of the Victoria Park motorway tunnel. Photo / Natalie Slade

I have been wondering whether there are any plans to ultimately demolish the Victoria Park viaduct and construct a southbound tunnel once the Victoria Park tunnel northbound is completed next year. John Saunders, Northcote.

The viaduct, which will be reconfigured to carry four lanes of southbound traffic when the Victoria Park tunnel is opened to northbound traffic next year, has another 20 to 30 years of life. The Transport Agency says the viaduct's replacement with southbound tunnels is one option which will be explored when another Waitemata Harbour crossing is developed. But with the expense the country faces after the Christchurch earthquake, I don't think that will be happening anytime soon.

What are the rules regarding fencing swimming pools? In a HeraldHomes real estate supplement a few months ago, I saw three houses where it is quite obvious you can walk straight out of the house and into the pool. Aren't pools meant to be fenced to prevent small children doing just that? Neil Porten, Western Springs.

Good question - that's what I thought too. But information supplied by Auckland Council indicates that the rules relating to swimming pools do not require the pool to be independently fenced from the dwelling.

The side of the dwelling can be used as a barrier to prevent children under the age of 6 entering the immediate pool area. But the location of the pool and what is deemed to be the immediate pool area are important criteria in determining whether the side of a dwelling can be used for this purpose.

The definition of the immediate pool area states: "The further a pool is from the dwelling the less likely it is that the area between the pool and the dwelling can be deemed the immediate pool area."

Therefore, a photograph may not display all the safeguards that the property may have.

The Department of Building and Housing says the current legislation, the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987 and the Building Act, are to be reviewed this year.

With the merge of the councils, are you able to find out where they would like the recycling wheelie bins now? Specifically, if the footpath touches the road should the bin obstruct the footpath or be placed on the berm? Andrew Dixon, Auckland.

The bin needs to be close enough to the edge of the road that the truck with the lifting machinery can get to it. If there is a berm between the road and the footpath, the bin should be on the roadside edge of the berm; if there isn't a berm, the bin should be as close as practicable to the road without being on it. Where the footpath is narrow, this may cause a temporary obstruction, which is unfortunate and inconvenient, but it's hard to think of another solution.