Investigation into under-fire city councillors 'ongoing'

Phil Mauger. Photo / Geoff Sloan

Almost three months on, the investigation into under-fire Christchurch city councillors Phil Mauger and James Daniels remains ongoing.

After flooding issues on Pages Rd in the eastern part of the city had been left unresolved for about a decade, Mauger and Daniels decided to take matters into their own hands.

Mauger used a digger from his own company, Maugers Contracting Ltd, to dig a trench between Anzac Drive and Bexley Rd – it fixed the flooding on Pages Rd overnight.

Flooding was a common occurrence on Pages Rd. Photo / Geoff Sloan

The act received widespread praise from the community with Christchurch City Council receiving 124 emails in support of the councillors within five days.

But this did not stop the city council from launching an investigation into the creation of the unauthorised trench and the two councillors' involvement in it.

A city council spokesman would not clarify when the investigation was expected to come to a close and simply said "the matter is still ongoing."

Two days after the trench was dug the council also brought in its own digger and filled in both ends of the trench to stop it from working.

However, funding to reduce the prevalence of the issue recently got prioritised by the city council.

The city council was not planning to resolve the flooding issues in the area for another four years – but councillors voted to bring the works forward to next year in a meeting in September.

- starnews.co.nz