By Mark Flyger (Hamilton Ratepayer)

Having just binged over the long weekend on the movies The Plague of the Zombies and Shaun of the Dead I was reminded of a recent encounter with the Planning and Guidance unit of Hamilton City Council.

Hamilton industrialist, Robin Ratcliffe, responded to a severe weather event after a eucalyptus tree fell over and landed on his house destroying the glass balustrade that surrounds it causing $60,000 in damage.

Being a resourceful fellow, Ratcliffe set about cutting the tree up and removing it from his property.

At the same time, he removed a few other eucalyptus trees in the same vicinity that had the potential to fall and possibly hurt someone or cause further damage.

To remove such large trees he enlisted the help of an excavator to pick up and remove the trees and the associated debris.

This work was underway when from out of some neighbouring bushes a Zombie popped out in the form of a planning and guidance officer from Hamilton City Council.

Said Zombie advised that the site, despite being owned by Ratcliffe, was a protected site having been designated an SNA (Significant Natural Area) due to its archaeological and ecological importance.

The Zombie went away, only to return some while later brandishing an official abatement notice requiring Ratcliffe’s team to immediately stop all work at the site.

Unlike in Shaun of the Dead, Ratcliffe couldn’t simply beat the Zombie to death and so he reluctantly stopped all work at the site.

He did this, despite the fact that he can legally undertake emergency work to remedy or prevent a problem under the Resource Management Act (and provided he advise Council within 7 days that the work has been done).

Being of ancient English fighting stock dating back to the Norman Conquest of 1066, Robin resisted the abatement notice and lodged an appeal in the Environment Court.

He then called on Council to have a meeting and to bring some good old ‘common sense’ to the table and cancel the notice.

Unfortunately, zombies do not possess common sense and care little for the cost they put the poor old ratepayer to or the stress they impose as they enforce their will.

Instead and like Shaun of the Dead, the number of zombies quickly grew and now includes a team of consultant lawyers from Hamilton City Council, the Waikato Regional Council and with ‘hangers on’.

The matter is currently before the Environment Court where, hopefully, the zombies haven’t yet invaded.

This is just part one of ‘Beat The Zombies’…

 

[The content of any Opinion pieces represents the views of the author and the accuracy of any content in a post labelled Opinion is the responsibility of the author. Posting of this Opinion content on the CityWatch NZ website does not necessarily constitute endorsement of those views by CityWatch NZ or its editors. CityWatch NZ functions to provide information and a range of different perspectives on New Zealand’s cities and local councils. If you disagree with or dispute the content, CityWatch NZ can pass that feedback on to the author. Send an email to feedback@citywatchnz.org and clearly identify the content and the issue.]