Clause out for cats as moggies get boot
Kapiti Coast has become home to a beachfront haven with a full-on cat ban.
Gingers, tabbies, and persians will never roam free on the streets of the latest stages of the Kotuku Parks subdivision. The sign at the entrance has a clear message: No cats.
A cat lover calls it residential ‘‘micromanagement’’, but the developer says it wants to protect the environment, and warns that, as a last resort, cat ban breaches could head to court.
Kotuku Parks director Alan Fraser said a no-cats covenant was included for the two sections of the subdivision that border the Waikanae Estuary Scientific Reserve.
The company fenced off the estuary from dogs, but this would not work for cats, he said.
He said it was hoped that the cat ban did not upset too many people, but if cats were allowed, the estuary – and all its birdlife – would become their backyard.
The latest stage of the subdivision opened up last month: three sections had already been sold, and three were under offer, he said.
Owners were kept wellinformed about the covenant before buying land, but if they decided to get a cat, then community mediation would hopefully resolve the issue.
In a case of last resort, the covenant, like others in the title that control building specifications, could be argued in court, he said.
Kapiti Coast district councillor K Gurunathan, a Waikanae Estuary Care Group member, said the covenant was a ‘‘working example’’ of managing cats near sensitive eco-reserves.
‘‘Prospective buyers are given information on the no-cats covenant and the danger cats pose to the native and migratory birds, some of which nest on the sand flats.’’
Feline Rights New Zealand secretary Pete Rose said New Zealand was suffering from a ‘‘mass hysteria’’ against cats created by extremist environmental groups.
However, he accepted developers had a right to set the rules for their subdivisions, even if this created ‘‘a micromanagement zone’’ for residents.
Fraser said the no-cat covenant was put in place after discussions with now-defunct environmental group Kapiti Environmental Action, led by locals Daphne Steel and June Rowland.