Waitakere City Council possibly facing criminal charges

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Wed, 14 Oct 2009 5:41p.m.

By Melissa Davies

The Symes family has announced the funeral of two-year-old Aisling will be held at their church in Ranui this Friday.

Meanwhile, Waitakere City Council says the maintenance of stormwater drains is under review, and a civil law specialist says if there is evidence of negligence they could face criminal charges.

The driveway police are still treating as a crime scene also resembled a construction site today. Waitakere City Council is in damage control over the storm water drain.

In some cases homeowners are responsible for drains on their property, but in this case it is a public drain - and that could see the council facing criminal charges if staff inaction led to Aisling's death.

"The facts of this case could give rise to a breach of that obligation, and there could be a criminal prosecution brought by the Department of Labour against the council," says Tim Rainey, civil litigation lawyer.

As yet the police have not contacted the Department of Labour about investigating Aisling's death. They have contacted the Asian witness they were looking for. Police would not say why she had not come forward earlier, but say she has been ruled out of inquiries.

In a statement Inspector Gary Davey today said: "We had to cover all possible scenarios including abduction, and tease out all lines of inquiry including sightings of an Asian woman in the area. We acknowledge that our interest in seeking an Asian woman caused some concern amongst the community but it was a necessary part of trying to find Aisling."

A council spokesperson says they are investigating the drain's history and working out whether it is just this manhole or many others throughout Waitakere that need to be addressed. He says the mayor will not comment further until the report is finalised, and that could take up to 10 days.

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Comments

16 Oct 2009 11:10p.m.

michael wrote:

thats so true David its well over dew for the councils to have a big wake up and put more money into sorting the basic things like both storm water drians etc get up graded and checked when any new houses or buildings are added to any area.and all creeks and streams are clear of any fullin trees etc as to maxamise there full flow to stop all flouding and billed up.instead of wasteing money on re-doing upgrades in the same streets in less then 6 years apart.or dum pecis of art in the middle of round abouts.the coucil should face charges

16 Oct 2009 12:18p.m.

Louise wrote:

Andrew we had a fully fenced section that was being eroded away by a council waterway so it was at this instance their responsibility to replace the back of our section that their waterway had caused to erode. They replaced it because it was their responsbility and they knew that they were at fault. It's just it took a year to get them into action. So don't tell me I'm mischief making when I did have a fully fenced section and I lost half of my back section and fence to them,which they replaced. So before making comments, get your facts right.

15 Oct 2009 12:08a.m.

Andrew wrote:

Erosion control is one thing Louise, but when you make references to small children and council negligence it seems that fencing and security was the real issue. As the owner or occupier of the property with small children security is YOUR responsibility. You seem to be mischief making. There is no legal or moral obligation whatsoever on the part of the council or utility operator to fence open water courses. The same applies to riverside, lakeside and seaside hazards.

14 Oct 2009 10:00p.m.

Annie wrote:

I'm with Pete on this one. I won't blame the mum since this was afterall a TWO year old left unsupervised for at least more than two minutes. But sometimes accidents do happen. It is sad and tragic. So why are the NZ public and media so critical of the council and police etc etc etc. We need to be compassionate, but also objective I feel.

14 Oct 2009 09:11p.m.

Louise wrote:

I agree with David about the Council facing criminal prosecution. I think they should do it. If it were you or I that didn't maintain something that was our responsibility, they would throw the book at us so why not them. We had an open storm water culvit behind us that would turn into a white water rapids in heavy weather and it was dangerously eroding the bank moving closer to the house. It took a year of constant ringing and pestering the North shore council until they put in Gabian baskets to stop the erosion. At the time we had 3 children under 3 years old that we constantly worried about. Thankfully we didn't lose one to their neglegence. They need to be held accountable with the amount of money you and I pay in Rates. We pay them to do it. It's inexcusable, poor management and for the Mayor to make the comment "If anybody had said something about these drains last week may I suggest we would have persued that course of action without a week going by". What a load of crap. Bob Harvey needs to stand up and face the music and not push the blame on someone else. If anyone out there has in fact contacted the Council about this drain, speak up and tell how many times you had to contact them. Finally, leave the Mother alone, she and the family have lost more that that neglegence can replace.

14 Oct 2009 08:56p.m.

Cyn wrote:

Yup Pete, i totally agree with you. You have a good point there mate.

14 Oct 2009 08:03p.m.

Pete wrote:

I'm sorry to say it but blaming the Council for the death of the child carries about as much weight as blaming the mother for gross negligence with regards to looking after her child. i.e. I wouldn't do either.

14 Oct 2009 06:42p.m.

David wrote:

They deserve to be charged with criminal negligence, Bob Harvey with his council's extravagant spending habits would much rather tear up Henderson for no good reason, build a brand spanking new (and very flash) council building or create a Chinatown than protect the interests of the community. Another spin-off from the Supercity plan will hopefully be an end to his political career.