It’s just over a year since our frosty early morning blockade of our Right of Way – a last-ditch attempt to get Council’s attention over concerns about the development we believed was contrary to Council’s own regulations. The development went ahead.
Five years ago we converted a shed on our section to a sleepout for my parents. We queried via e-mail having an independent dwelling – Council responded, “No, ROW is undersized.” (i.e. ROW is too narrow for more independent dwellings). Fair enough. We knew that the previous owner of our section wasn’t allowed to sub-divide because he could not widen the accessway and he thus went bankrupt! But in 2016 a sub-division (i.e. another independent dwelling) on our ROW (the same one previously considered to be “undersized”) was permitted on a non-notified basis (i.e. no-one is considered to be affected enough by the decision to be advised beforehand and given the opportunity to lodge an objection).
Where do we draw the line?
Once one regulation has been bypassed, who knows what regulations still apply? Increasing the number of properties along the ROW changes us to a Private Way. We are number 27. A Private Way can have up to 12 dwellings. Our Private Way is only wide enough for one vehicle, and by TCC’s regulations, should only have four dwellings. What rules apply now? How many dwellings can there be? How long is a piece of string?
Council and us can’t agree on a few things; consistency of how regulations are applied, why this wasn’t a notified consent, why no traffic impact report was done (a requirement), why developers choose new street names – not people who have lived there for years (developer kindly gave us all input) – apart from that we get on just great!
Lessons learnt
The development went ahead. Did we lose? I learned a lot!
Lesson 1 – Once something has been approved, only a Court Injunction – potentially very costly – will halt work. You have to object BEFORE consent is given.
Lesson 2 – File hard copies, of ALL correspondence with Council. Lost some, won some. We served a Trespass Order on the builders and after that, you better believe they came to let us know before they blocked the ROW with digging or machinery.
We are still in process of getting the Ombudsman’s opinion on all this. Why do I bother? Isn’t our issue too minor? Well maybe; think of Bella Vista. But I am bothering because if we just suck it up every time something is not right, things will keep happening that way.
Kia kaha! Nā, tōu rourou, nā tōku rourou, ka ora ai te iwi. With your contribution and my contribution, the people will survive and grow. (Working together brings achievement).
– By Sheila Tippett
“I write for this magazine because it’s an awesome way for the community to connect.”
