Linemen worked to replace the damaged pole on Friday. PHOTO/JENNIFER GREY
EMILY IRELAND
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A truck and trailer crashed into a power pole in Featherston on Friday morning, causing disruptions to businesses.
Power was cut to 400 properties from 8.30am until 11.40am as Powerco worked to replace the damaged concrete pole on Wallace St.
No injuries were reported in the crash, but the street was blocked off at the intersection with Fox St for several hours.
Featherston’s Messines Bookshop owner Lincoln Gould said many businesses had been impacted by the power cut, but he stayed open for the morning without power because there was enough natural light in the store “and customers were coming in”.
Across the road at For the Love of Books, owner Jennifer Grey said her shop was closed for half the day until the power was restored.
“I don’t envy the linesmen’s job fixing that in this wind,” she said.
It was a windy day in Featherston on Friday, but “no windier than normal”, Grey said.
Although the residents may be accustomed to the gusts, one tree on Western Lake Rd was not.
It toppled on Friday, blocking the road about 18km from Featherston.
A post on the South Wairarapa District Council Facebook page on Friday morning said roading crews had advised it would take until today to clear the road.
This post was met with criticism from Featherston people asking why it would take three days to clear.
One Facebook commenter said, “If only someone could invent an automatic saw. Perhaps with a long chain, that worked just like a saw. Then they could have it done in less than a day”.
Within an hour of the original post, the council posted the tree had been cleared.
The council was unavailable for comment.
