Angry at possible memorial removal

The grieving family of Riley Baker is angry and hurt after being told a memorial  containing the Dunedin photographer’s ashes may  be removed from Shag Point, near where he was killed just over a year ago.

Mr Baker (26) died after Chinese tourist Limin Ma crossed the centre line on State Highway 1  and smashed into Mr Baker’s oncoming motorcycle on August 13, 2016. The memorial, made up of a bench and a plaque,  was unveiled  on January 13 — Mr Baker's birthday.

The memorial is on NZ Transport Agency land, well away from the roadside and shrouded by bushes. However, Mr Baker’s sister, Sarah Baker, has been told in an email from infrastructure company Downer, which manages the area on behalf of  the NZTA, the memorial is to be removed.

This follows a single complaint from a member of the public to the Waitaki District Council, which it then passed on to the NZTA.

After a review, Downer and the NZTA decided the plaque would  be removed as the NZTA did not want to set a precedent for memorials which it would "find hard to control in the future".

Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said that the  complaint  touched on four or five issues relating to the area at Shag Point, including "one line" about the plaque.

Ms Baker said the memorial to her brother had been approved by officials before being installed.

"If I had gone and done it without permission I could understand, but the fact that I did it all correctly — I just don’t understand."

The email from Downer, which arrived "out of the blue" last Friday,  said a mistake had been made in approving the memorial and it would have to be removed.

"I didn’t know what to think. I was shocked. I haven’t slept very well over the weekend."

The site was intended as a place for the family to go to remember Mr Baker  —  "to have it removed would be devastating".

Mr Baker’s partner, Amy McCarthy, said she was "very angry" at the news.

"It baffles me. I can’t honestly understand how anyone can have an issue with this."

She thought the decision to remove the plaque was mean-spirited.

"His ashes are in there. That’s where we go to feel close to him."

NZTA transport system management senior manager Steve Mutton said the agency wanted to work with the family to seek a satisfactory resolution, and it had not been decided if the plaque would be removed.

"The transport agency signed off on the seat overlooking the ocean and the plaque was originally to be included in the seat.

"After the seat was installed, changes were made to the plaque design by the family which were not fully understood by the transport agency and that has led to the present situation."

He conceded the NZTA had "not clearly communicated" that to the family at the time.

"We sincerely regret the distress that this has now caused Riley’s family, and we are committed to working with them to find a resolution to this unfortunate situation," he said.

"We understand the desire of families to commemorate the passing of those killed in road crashes by erecting roadside memorials, with the hope of preventing similar tragedies happening to other families, as long as these are deemed to be safe and not considered a driver distraction."

Mr Kircher said that he was supporting the family in a bid to get the outcome they desired.

"Someone has mucked up and, unfortunately, by implication the council has been dragged into this and been made to look pretty bad on our part. I was pretty shocked that something like this could happen."

He had contacted the NZTA and it had undertaken to meet the family.

After further inquiries from the Otago Daily Times yesterday, the NZTA said it did not want to speculate on whether the plaque would be removed.