Shop verandas hit by campervans costing owners thousands
A banana shaped main road and the growing popularity of campervans are being blamed for costly damage to shop verandas in Motueka's main street. Claire Hutt, the coordinator Our Town Motueka the local business association - said the camber of High St, likened to a banana shape, meant that high sided motorhomes or caravans scraped up against the shop frontages, in some cases completely removing them. Jamie Sutherland, the owner of variety store Hi Motueka, has had the veranda of his shop hit four times over the summer, causing thousands of dollars of damage. After sustaining damage in November, Sutherland bought a new veranda sign, only to have it hit again a week after being installed. READ MORE: * Finally, a robot for the most hated domestic task of all - window cleaning * Government spending and taxes in sights of deputy National leader * Scientists find floods triggered by climate change pose a risk to native fish population There seems to be a lack of awareness of the size of the vehicle, he said. Sutherland said it seemed to be Kiwis causing the damage, but it was hard to say as most took off without acknowledging what they had done. He was frustrated about the behaviour, often witnessed by customers. I dont expect them to pay for it, but they could at least come in and say sorry. Another affected business owner is Murray Thorn, of Murray Thorn Motorcycles. Its terrible now, Thorn said, adding that it was not only campervans but also trucks that would whack straight into his signage. I've got a $10,000 sign that I repaired a few months ago and its knackered again, Thorn said. He had just spent $4000 on a new frontage but was reluctant to put it up in case of further incidents. He had been in the shop for more than 30 years and never had an issue, but said problems emerged after the redevelopment of the main street in the past two years. Some bright spark decided to put a massive big angle in the middle of the road and make it super tapered, and the trucks started hitting the shops, costing us money. It becomes our problem that we can't fix because no one wants to know about it. Larissa Balkhausen, the owner of Antonius European Bakery, said they now had a planter box in front of the building, but it used to be a regular problem. Sometimes campervan owners were very arrogant, she said. One woman complained that their sign was too low: like my sign drove into her campervan. Business owners had raised the issue with the community board, spoken to the local councillor, and corresponded with transport agency Waka Kotahi, but had yet to see any indications of change. Hutt said the problem had worsened in the past 12 months, as the numbers of caravans and campervans grew. The drivers did not intentionally cause damage, as they didnt intentionally want to damage their own vehicles, she said, but, nevertheless, repairs cost a couple of grand and took their toll on Motuekas appearance. It just makes the town look untidy when people's signage is all scratched or missing, Hutt said. In a statement, Waka Kotahi said they were aware of the issue raised by the local community board, and had been in touch with the council to get further details. Staff were conducting further investigations to determine the cause of the problem and if it was linked to the recent upgrade works, the statement said. Waka Kotahi also said they understood the matter would be considered by designers planning the Motueka Transport Choices Project, currently being undertaken by the Tasman District Council. Council spokesperson Chris Choat said the council was getting together with Waka Kotahi to identify if the environment was at fault.