Council wants its land
Owners of four exclusive milliondollar New Plymouth properties have been ordered to remove fencing, trees and furniture from council land they have allegedly been treating like private property for decades.
New Plymouth District Council received three complaints from February to April about vegetation and a private property sign erected on East End Reserve land at the back of the Ronald St homes.
The landowners have created their own ‘‘backyards’’ on the reserve land and the encroachments are clearly visible in aerial shots viewable on Taranaki Regional Council property information maps.
The properties, which had rateable values of between $1.7 million and $1.8m in September last year, have sea views overlooking Fitzroy and East End beaches, as well as views of Mt Taranaki.
The homes take advantage of their proximity to the reserve and none of the four properties have back fences. Their land appears seamlessly joined with the reserve area.
‘‘This issue is about people using public land for private use,’’ council infrastructure manager David Langford said.
‘‘Our district’s parks and reserves are there for everyone to enjoy and it isn’t fair on our ratepayers when access is blocked off for private benefit.’’
Residents declined to answer questions about the order to remove vegetation, but one said they tended to the land themselves and it would remain that way.
‘‘It’s really not a problem, the council is fine with us to keep maintaining it,’’ one property owner said.
They said they had only lived at the property for six months, but had been told the land had always been maintained by the property owners.
Another said the land had been maintained by property owners for about 30 years.
Langford said council staff had approached the landowners in person and asked them to remove anything they had placed on the reserve, including fencing, greenery and furniture.
‘‘We always prefer to work cooperatively with people to resolve these sorts of issues where we can, but we do have legal processes we can fall back on if necessary,’’ Langford said.
There was no date set for when trees, fences or garden furniture needed to be removed by. Many of the trees look well established.
Langford said the reason the council had not maintained the reserve land in front of the houses was because there was no access road.
‘‘So traditionally the private landowners have mown this area, similar to how people look after berms outside their homes.’’
Langford said the council was not in discussion with the landowners about them leasing the land.
‘‘While there is scope for people to apply for licences to occupy/encroach on council land, it would not be appropriate in this case because of the location.’’
A similar situation happened in 2009, when residents of Battiscombe Tce, Waitara, were told to remove vegetable gardens, fencing and trees they had planted on reserve land, after the council received complaints of hoons in cars tearing up the land.
Residents, protesters and even a young Hawke’s Bay lawyer, battled with the council for more than a month, before the gardens were torn out and a fence was built to rectify the boundary line.
A number of properties in the district encroach on council land, but the council has granted only six licences for private homeowners to do so legally.