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Meanwhile, in Tararua Country....

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Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #50 on: October 28, 2011, 12:28:24 am »


Shut gorge spurs parents' fears

By JESSICA SUTTON - Manawatu Standard | 12 NOON - Tuesday, 25 October 2011

NO GO ZONE: Standing at the roading detour are the Vink family of Woodville, from left, Helen, Eva, 5, Noah, 9, and Daan. — WARWICK SMITH/Fairfax NZ.
NO GO ZONE: Standing at the roading detour are the Vink family of Woodville,
from left, Helen, Eva, 5, Noah, 9, and Daan. — WARWICK SMITH/Fairfax NZ.


THE CLOSURE  of the Manawatu Gorge road has cost a Woodville couple time and money, and left them fearful for their children's health.

Helen and Daan Vink have forked out an extra $60 a week on petrol, and have had to drive for an hour longer every day to get to work in Palmerston North — and home — since the road was closed in August after a massive slip.

Motorists are having to use either the Saddle Road or Pahiatua Track as alternatives.

But the couple's biggest concern is for their two children, Noah and Eva, who both suffer from a serious heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This is a disease in which, at any time, at any age, a portion of a person's myocardium (the muscle of the heart) thickens. It is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death.

Both children attend Kumeroa/Hopelands School, near Woodville, but since the gorge shut Mrs Vink has been worried about whether or not she would make it in time, should something happen to her children.

"I'd dread to think whether I'd get to their school in time, or if an ambulance could get there and whether there would be enough time to get back to the hospital. Like any parent I worry for the safety of my kids and knowing it takes a lot longer to get back to them is nerve-racking."

Mrs Vink said travelling the roads each day to and from the city were frustrating.

"They're not safe roads and we're both travelling these roads every day."

I'm not a nervous driver, but trying to squeeze between trucks or school buses on some of the narrow bends sometimes makes me suck in my breath and think, ‘wow that was a close call’. "

She said cleanup in the gorge was "just a Band-Aid".

"It's going to happen again. If this was in Auckland, maybe things would be done a lot faster but being in a provincial area, you know they just think, ‘Oh you'll be right’."

"It's exceptionally frustrating. We both work fulltime but it costs money and it's not necessarily money we have. It's tough."

If the gorge was to close indefinitely, the Vinks would consider moving.

"We would have to rethink schools and our lives, but for us to leave Woodville, it would be financially challenging with a mortgage and all. We moved to Woodville for the lifestyle, but this isn't what we wanted."

New Zealand Transport Agency expects to have the gorge reopened by Christmas, but currently the area is unsafe for workers to continue the cleanup after another slip on October 17.

"We know how important this road is for local communities and for the region's economy, and we know people want to see this slip cleared as soon as possible," spokesman Andy Knackstedt said.


http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/5845956/Shut-gorge-spurs-parents-fears
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