Neighbour angered by consent
DUNEDIN man Paul Mackie says he hasn’t had a proper night’s sleep in at least a week.
What’s keeping him awake is recent earthworks for a neighbouring development which he says puts his Epsilon St property — where he has lived for the past 35 years — at risk.
He was not against the subdivision or the work but was angry the Dunedin City Council’s con sent allowed so much soil to be removed from a steep slope so close to his property.
There was now a 5m ‘‘drop’’ at the back of his property and the work had damaged the root system of a large eucalyptus tree, which an arborist told him would need to come down.
It was only a matter of time before his land would start to slip away, he said.
‘‘It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. It might be dry now but in winter the soil gets soaked and you can’t tell me there’s going to be no impact on my property.
‘‘To say I’m agitated is an understatement . . . I wanted to live the rest of my life here but now I’m not sure — it’s like the spell has been broken.’’
The land is owned by Oderings Nurseries Ltd. Noone from the company could be contacted yesterday.
Council resource consents manager Alan Worthington said a compliance officer, arborist and geotechnical engineer visited the site yesterday.
A formal report would be made but initial advice was there was no threat to Mr Mackie’s property, Mr Worthington said.
All the earthworks were permitted under the development’s resource consent, he said.
No affected party approval was needed as no person or party was considered to be adversely affected by the activity.