With the upgrade works at Scullin Shops only having been recently completed with the last fortnight, already there has been some major damage caused to part of the new guard railings installed, with a 1 guard rail almost completely taken off and part of another section sheared off entirely. I first noticed the damage on thursday night last week and saw the damaged guard rails lying on the ground nearby. The damaged rails have since dissapeared but no effort has been made to remove or tape off the damaged pole sticking out of the ground leaving me to believe that it was not removed by any ACT works department (no I do’t know the name of the right department) or similar but probably by some enterprising locals.
Overview of the damage with broken sections highlighted.
Talking to another local this morning who witnessed the incident that caused the damage, I was told that on Thursday last week a car parked in the carpark at the edge near the corner of the steps accelerated up the stairs instead of reversing out, taking out two of the guard rails in the process and coming to rest against the wall of the shop on the corner at the top of the stairs. I am told police were not called to the scene, and shortly after the incident another person arrived and drove the damaged vehicle away along with the driver who caused the accident. I am told the damage to the car was fairly severe, including a shattered windscreen – the broken glass from which is evident on the ground nearby – and damage to the front panneling of the vehicle itself.
Another view of the damage showing approximately the direction of the vehicle.
The guard rails are very strong and sturdy and the force it would have taken to shear the rails off as shown would have been quite a lot, thank goodness no-one happened to walking down the stairs at the time. The witness tells me the driver was uninjured but as to wether they reported the accident to the Police or ACT Connect etc… afterwards is unknown and one can only presume that the revelant authorities are probably unaware of the incident, although the witness tells me they know who the person is who caused the accident and personally believe they are an “upstanding” person who would have surely have reported the accident – personally given human nature in these situations I am not so convinced but it is possible.
Close up shots of the damaged sections of guard railing:
This morning I attempted to call ACT Connect to try and make sure the relevant department who could make safe the area and fix the damage were aware of it at least, after a fruitless half an hour being transferred round 5 different departments with everyone not wanting to take responsibility for taking my report, I gave up and instead picked 2 local members at random in Ginninderra and called their offices instead. The staff at both Alistair Coes and Mary Porters office were both very helpful, and assured me they could make sure the correct department who could action the repair work was informed directly and that they would make the Minister aware as well of the damage that had occured and ensure it was investigated. I left the matter in their hands and will wait to see how quickly I see someone out here to do something about the damage.
The guard rails on the section nearby that isn’t damaged.
Overall given the “cosmetic” nature of the upgrade works themselves the shops actually do look a lot nicer now the work is finished, and its a shame to see damage done to the works so soon after they were completed. What I find even more annoying though is the likelihood that it is taxpayers money that will be spent fixing the damage instead of the insurance company of the driver or the driver themself paying to fix the damage they caused.
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