Frustrations over a heritage tree are at tipping point for a young Stoke family.
On February 13, eight and a half tonnes of heritage oak tree in a neighbour’s backyard split and crashed down onto Douglas Lamond’s garage. The fall destroyed their Palm Ave garage, most of its contents and the backyard fence, narrowly missing the house where his children were sleeping.
Nelmac workers cleaned up the enormous mass of twisted wood trunk and canopy from what was once his backyard. The process revealed the damage done to his family’s heirlooms and his beloved HQ Holden premiere 1973 model show car.
He said the car was worth about $23,000 but was uninsured because it had not been on the road for about three years.
It has been almost four months since the tree fell onto his property but the clean-up has revealed another legal mess – to find who was at fault for not foreseeing the tree’s possible failure.
Lamond said the tree was inspected in November 2015, three months before it fell. He had taken the Nelson City Council to the Disputes Tribunal last week to sort out the mess but it was adjourned to July.
Lamond said the council inspection report, which was completed just days after the tree fell, had been made legally privileged which meant he could not see it. Lamond had applied to the Ombudsman to have it released but with no luck.
‘‘They (Nelson City Council) just told me they’re not liable. I think the report would say who’s liable,’’ he said. ‘‘I had contacted council about the tree beforehand. Every time I paid my rates. I said ‘Hey, the tree is too big you know?’.’’
He said he was concerned about the size and weight of the tree which had a root system that sat over a creek bed.
Lamond’s partner Kath Kirk said there was a visible crack in the tree when it was inspected. However, the failure of the tree revealed the real issue was another crack that was hidden beneath ivy on its trunk.
‘‘If they had actually inspected the torso of the tree as they were supposed to they would have realised it had a split,’’ she said.
(The Nelson Mail, Tuesday, June 7th, 2016)
A housing company has proposed a Special Housing Area (SHA) for the Dodson Valley but the project could be blocked by zoning requirements.
Hybrid Homes & Living has applied to develop up to 24 homes on a 19 ha section at the end of Farleigh St in Atawhai.
Originally planned as a 13-lot development, a new submission by the developers suggested expanding to 24 lots of various sizes would ‘‘better meet the vision behind the SHA’’.
Special Housing Areas aim to improve housing supply and affordability. They involve accords between councils and the Government to allow for fast-tracked development on suitable land.
Hybrid Homes believed using the SHA process would provide greater certainty around development but a council report said the proposal was inconsistent with the Nelson City Housing Accord.
Developing Farleigh St, which borders rural and urban zones, would not ‘‘enhance (housing) supply in existing residential zones,’’ the report stated.
Crs Eric Davey, Brian McGurk, Matt Lawrey and Pete Rainey supported Stanger’s sentiments that the land was appropriate for development regardless of its rural zoning. Lawrey said the Farleigh St proposal could help alleviate demand for affordable sections, if not for special housing developments.
Rainey contended that ‘‘looking at the map, Farleigh St had got housing right up to that stretch of land we’re trying to develop’’.
However, council’s senior planning advisor Lisa Gibellini said the land’s steep topography limited it to ‘‘low density’’ development.
‘‘Even the revised proposal of 24 lots isn’t consistent with the two models (in the housing accord). It’s not residential and it’s not increasing supply and providing greater intensity.
(The Nelson Mail, Tuesday, June 7th, 2016)
Foodstuffs has opposed the first stage of plans by its rival, Progressive Enterprises, to build a Countdown supermarket on the corner of Salisbury and Champion roads in Richmond, near Nelson.
Citing traffic concerns, Foodstuffs South Island Ltd has called for the private plan change request by Progressive Enterprises Ltd to be rejected.
The plan change request seeks the rezoning of about 1.3 hectares of land on the site from residential to commercial, paving the way for the proposed supermarket along with a small retail/commercial development, a community facility, associated car parking, access and landscaping.
Foodstuffs, a retailer-owned cooperative company and the wholesale supplier to New World, Pak ‘n Save and Four Square supermarkets along with Raeward Fresh and On the Spot convenience stores, received the goahead in March to build a New World supermarket at the other end of Richmond, near Three Brothers Corner.
(The Nelson Mail, Wednesday, June 8th, 2016)
Upper Moutere hop farm sold to US investor
The Overseas Investment Office has approved the sale of a $9.8 million hop farm in Upper Moutere to an American buyer.
Consent for the sale of the 119 hectare farm in Eggers Rd was granted by the Overseas Investment Office to Michael Robert Stone of the United States in March.
The application stated Stone planned to further develop the hop farm on the land in order to increase the quantity of hops produced from it and to increase exports through his pre-existing relationships in the United States craft beer industry.
The Overseas Investment Office, which assesses applications from overseas investors seeking to invest in sensitive New Zealand assets, was satisfied that the purchase would have ‘‘substantial and identifiable benefit to New Zealand’’ particularly in relation to jobs, increased exports, added market competition and additional investment for development purposes.
(The Nelson Mail, Thursday, June 9th, 2016)
A $577,000 blowout has seen Tasman District councillors halt unbudgeted spending at Mapua Wharf.
The money, spent on landscaping and infrastructure around the council’s Shed 4 complex, had not been approved by councillors.
But the spending cap was unlikely to spell the end to a controversial fence being built by the council between its complex and a rival neighbouring cafe. The cafe was to be opened by former Hamish’s Cafe owner Adele Calteaux, who is taking the council to court over terms of her previous lease exit.
(The Nelson Mail, Friday, June 10th, 2016)
The removal of the old grandstand at the Takaka Recreation Park will go ahead despite a community attempt to save it.
The Tasman District Council on Thursday confirmed its intention to remove the grandstand to make way for the Golden Bay Community Recreation Facility that is due to be completed by December this year. The council will seek Heritage New Zealand approval for the removal because the stand may have been built before 1900.
Mayor Richard Kempthorne said the design for the new facility would ‘‘make the best use of the site’’.
(The Nelson Mail, Friday, June 10th, 2016)
“From what we get, we can make a living;
what we give, however,
makes a life.”
Arthur Ashe