Property developers remove rainbow letterbox
An Auckland family say their rainbow letterbox was taken by property developers because of a complaint it was ugly.
Hannah Lee and her family, who live in West Auckland’s Sunnyvale, have had the rainbowcoloured letterbox – which they share with two neighbours – since the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown.
‘‘During that time my neighbour decided to paint the letterbox as a symbol of love and hope, and our kids and all their friends loved ... it.’’ Lee said they had never had complaints about the letterbox or any issues, until it disappeared on
Wednesday morning. ‘‘We asked contractors, neighbours, the local Facebook group, no-one had seen it. My neighbour decided to file a report with police.’’
Next to Lee’s driveway is a newly built apartment block, which was overseen by property developers Williams Corporation.
Lee said her neighbour got in touch with the company and was told it had no idea about the missing mailbox. But later, someone from the company called back and said the company had taken the letterbox. ‘‘They [said] they took it from our property because one of the apartment owners had complained it was ugly,’’ Lee said her neighbour told her. ‘‘. . . but why wouldn’t they talk to us first?’’
Williams Corporation said it would return the letterbox yesterday but Lee said it still wasn’t back. ‘‘They have made no apology to us for taking our letterbox down. It is not only upsetting for our kids but many other people in the community liked seeing our bright letterbox.’’
A spokesperson for Williams Corporation said: ‘‘The neighbours generally complained about the rainbow letterbox and said it belonged to a house that was demolished. A contractor accepted this was genuine and removed the letterbox. We have never had this situation occur before and admit this is most bizarre. Maybe the letterbox wasn’t as well-located as it could have been?’’