A young woman is immobilised, facing surgery and using ACC-supplied taxis for transport after an accident with restaurant footpath furniture on the main street of Mount Maunganui.

But despite the furniture being 'unapproved and inappropriate”, the restaurant will not be prosecuted.

Dining in 'Danger Street'?

The serious accident comes to light just a week after the Tauranga City Council insisted in a Weekend Sun story that there was 'no problem” with dining tables and chairs outside cafes and restaurant.

'Well, there is a problem” says the victim's mother, Annette McLeod.

Two-and-a-half months after the accident, her daughter has received the good news from Auckland Hospital. Her injury is no worse.

But she has also had the bad news. The injury hasn't healed. 'And that is a major concern,” says Annette.

It was 3:45pm on Christmas Eve last year when Jessica and her step-sister were walking down the main street in Mount Maunganui.

'The restaurant barrier which separates dinners from passers-by was in my line of sight,” she explains, 'but the tubular metal footing which holds it up wasn't.

'The obstacle was protruding into the footpath.”

Her left foot struck the barrier support and she landed on her right foot.

'Have you ever broken a bone?” she asks. 'It was pretty sore, and that's an understatement”

X-rays revealed fractures of the second, third and fourth metatarsals – the long bones in the mid-foot. Annette says two of the fractures were acute, which means the bones were displaced and she may have torn ligaments.

'It was nasty,” adds Annette, 'and I would like to think this accident would make the council sit up and take notice.”

But it hasn't. Tauranga City Council insists everything is working just fine and 'the balance between café and restaurant furniture and footpath accessibility is working”.

Stuart Goodman – enforcer of the TCC's bylaws and parking – was aware of the accident. And while it was a serious health and safety issue, there won't be a prosecution.

That's despite the fact that the barriers used by the restaurant on Christmas Eve were not council approved, nor were they 'suitable for that environment.”

Annette says she is not apportioning blame and she does not know who is responsible. She won't even name the restaurant because she says the problem is bigger than one restaurant.

'But the accident did happen,” she adds. So Annette went back to the accident scene and did some of her own research.

'There just isn't sufficient room,” she explains. 'There can't be the mandatory two-metre gap for pedestrians with diners on both sides of the footpath.”

And she's come to the conclusion that cafes and restaurants can comply only by having diners on just one side of the footpath.

In the meantime, life for daughter Jessica in Auckland has been made difficult. 'Not impossible,” she says, 'but difficult.”

She went from a plaster cast to a fibre glass cast and now, ten weeks after the accident, to a moonboot.

'I can get around on a knee scooter which frees up your hands to carry things, but I still need to taxi to and from work and my flatmates help by doing the supermarket.”

'The rest is history” says Annette. 'She may need surgery and she may end up with permanent damage to her foot.”

In the long run, Annette says she too would like to create 'a lovely ambience down the Mount's main street. '

'But we can't be restricting who uses the footpath – we can't take away prams, wheelchairs, mobility scooters and pedestrians for the sake of restaurants and cafes.”

And while the council insists congestion around cafes and restaurants down the Mount's main street is not a big issue for people, Annette reminds them it is approaching three months since the accident and her daughter still has no use of her injured leg.

*Over the last seven days, SunLive ran a reader's poll asking the following question: Following complaints from residents about overcrowded footpaths being ‘littered with tables and chairs' in downtown Mount Maunganui, how would you solve the problem?

The results are as follows:

Remove parking bays and make the pavements wider - 77 votes

Pedestrianise the whole area - 352 votes

Leave it alone. Its a lot of fuss over nothing - 478 votes

Make cafe owners and restaurateurs pay extra for use of the footpaths - 229 votes

Ban outdoor tables and chairs completely - 139 votes