Widow can’t stop her neighbours’ deck build
A widow is angry that a large deck is being built overlooking her waterfront yard, but Hutt City Council says it is hamstrung because the woman’s neighbours are within the rules.
Marina Hanbury-Sparrow said she was heartbroken that plants put in by her now dead husband were removed during the work, and her only recourse was appealing the non-notified consent to the High Court.
The council said it was all but powerless to stop the work as changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) meant neighbours had little say in such cases.
John and Pam Weeds — her neighbours in Marine Drive, Lowry Bay — would not comment when approached by Stuff.
The front section of their waterfront home has become a construction site as a new garage – crowned with an entertainment deck – is built.
Hanbury-Sparrow’s husband, Simon, died from cancer in September. She claimed the Weeds told the council he had given verbal consent for the building – something she believed he would not have done, especially if he had known the size of the build.
The non-notified consent was issued in early 2017, before her husband died and long before she became aware of the plans.
Apart from a fleeting mention about wanting to build a garage, Hanbury-Sparrow said she was unaware of the project till February.
When she was finally told, Hanbury-Sparrow asked the council about her rights: ‘‘[The] lady said, they already have resource consent – there is nothing you can do about it.’’
The 6 metre-long garage is immediately on her boundary. She said the boundary fence was destroyed when diggers moved in, also destroying plants put in by her husband. When completed, the deck would look back into her house and down onto the garden her teenage daughter liked to sunbathe in, she said.
The council’s environmental consents divisional manager, Helen Oram, said changes made to the RMA under the National Government meant neighbours had less input into resource consents.
‘‘This, unfortunately, can result in outcomes which neighbours are less than happy with, such as in this case, and they now have very little ability to seek any recourse.’’
Oram said that if a building fitted within an accepted envelope, anyone could be granted permission to build without resource consent. In the Marine Dr case, the garage was 48cm longer than that envelope, and a small part of the railing was above it.
‘‘These areas outside the accepted envelope are small, making a non-notified application the right way to proceed,’’ Oram said.
‘‘[The] lady said ... there is nothing you can do about it.’’ Marina HanburySparrow