A fibre installer has chosen to drill underneath a Durban resident’s rose garden instead of trenching through it, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

James Easton maintains an award-winning rose garden on a municipal verge outside his house in Glen Anil, Durban, and thought it was done for when a fibre roll-out started in his area.

The garden on the verge consists of roughly 200 roses and reportedly costs Easton R4,500 a month to maintain.

Easton’s rose garden is popular among local residents, and won a R75,000 prize from a hardware company in the past.

Time to dig

Contractors recently arrived on Easton’s road and began trenching to install fibre in the area, placing Easton’s garden at risk of being destroyed due to its location on the public verge.

The contractor initially told Easton it was not possible to save the garden. Easton approached the municipality to “adopt the spot”, which it declined to do.

Infraconnect, the main contractor, was alerted to the issue and opted to drill underneath the garden in order to preserve it.

“We are going to drill 1.5m under the garden and come out the other side instead of digging a trench,” it said.

The contractor said it would have cost around R4,000 to trench, while drilling underneath the garden would cost between R35,000 and R37,000.

The company said it was worth it, however, as the garden uplifts the area.