NPDC considering next steps on the fence that Dawn built stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The council had received two complaints and told her that her fence needed to be moved back a metre as it was on public land. But Hickling is fighting it. The NPDC s public places bylaw requires that no person may occupy a road, reserve, park, or airspace above a road, reserve or park for any purpose, unless that person has obtained an encroachment licence, airspace or subsoil lease or licence to occupy from the council, and paid the relevant fee. There is an application fee for a licence, and there might be an annual charge depending on the type of encroachment, “but at the heart of the matter is retaining access to public land”, Leitao said.
“It still boils down to ‘why me?’” “It s everybody complies, or everybody pays the encroachment fee, or you leave us be.”
SIMON O CONNOR/Stuff
The fence next door reaches as far out as Hickling s. New Plymouth District Council is currently working its way through 600 unauthorised encroachments across the district. In a statement, council transport manager Rui Leitao said many encroachments have long and complicated histories. “We work hard to find amicable solutions, as was the case with Baring Tce. “We’ve been talking with the owner for months to try and find an amicable solution. “It’s an issue because it intrudes on public land and we’ve had complaints about it.