Safety Concerns and Search Lights

The latest developments.

This is an excerpt of the letter I wrote to the developers about the lack of a safety fence for the corner that faces our property and through which we had an uninterrupted view of the comings and goings in the Tawhai Street development.

Here's the view now. A host of 20 year old fruit trees and established gardens were destroyed and replaced with this. Rest assured the trees in front of the houses will grow pretty quickly and provide a nice privacy shield.

QUOTE FROM LETTER

"2) The lack of safety fencing in this ‘forgotten’ corner. (Something that might not have been foreseen).
There appears to be a small column for a light to indicate the edge of the garden area (which is an excellent idea) but anyone approaching the garden area and venturing close to the edge could come to serious harm as there is no indication about sudden drop to the stream below. 

Your architect may not have realised the height of the drop (approx. 2 metres straight down) if they did not visit the site, or asked to view it from our side (they did not).  The sound of water is a magnet for kids and at its worst two or three times a year the stream rises high enough to sweep someone off their feet. (I have video footage showing how high the water flow can get). 

As you can see, concerns that I hope you can help with. As a youngster, when I lived in Europe,  I was with friends when we discovered a young boy who had drowned, which I have never forgotten. I want to make sure nothing like that happens if I can speak up about the danger.

You have been helpful and Urban Plus has navigated the development better than many others could, so I hope my concerns are not seen as an irritation but genuine ...."

I did not receive an answer from Hutt Council or the developers Urban Plus, which considering the nature of the worry was disappointing. No action was taken to remedy the risk over the next few weeks.

Here are two 'before' views from our property into the centre of the development.

Enter Bayleys who are selling the properties for the developers and the Council. The neighbours were kindly invited to view the properties that faced our own to put our minds at rest about anyone overlooking our homes. Bayleys have been both courteous and welcoming to the local community.

I commented to Bayleys about the risk for people from the Tawhai Street side in the corner where we overlook them. Visiting (at last) from the other side, there is no indication of the two metre drop, it looks like a harmless bit of garden bordering the estate with some modest planting to embellish some plain ground. It is easy to imagine someone getting just a bit too close to the edge and an accident happening.

Interestingly enough Baileys appeared to have similar feedback from prospective purchasers about the risk in that corner.  I applaud the prospective purchasers for examining their potential new home area and taking a good look around the development, then realising the risk of a puppy or small child getting a little too close to the edge.

So, we now have a safe and secure fence that will prevent people and pets from tumbling over the edge and coming to harm. It also affords us a degree of privacy the developers overlooked before, or more likely did not even care about.

The fence is well made and fits nicely with the ambience of the development.

The Down Side

There has to be one - right?

The down side is that on 6th of November 2025 low sitting pillar lights were finally finished (they have sat there unfinished for many months) The lights are so bright they make the houses around them look like a movie prison camp.  

They appear to be LED lights, and are of such ferocious strength that they dazzle the houses on either side.  These lights appear to go along the front of the properties in the development itself so enhance the already dense light pollution of this part of Stokes Valley. 

As the bedroom for Unit 16 is at ground level and faces into the corner, no amount of blinds or curtains will exclude the blinding lights outside but I am sure the Council and developers didn't think of that and perhaps action will be taken at some point.

As you can imagine, the two nearest lights also shine brightly into our garden which is super fun and, worst of all, I fear that it may deter Moreporks and other night life from coming near the Glen Road properties where they have been regular visitors.

I do not hold out much hope of any action from the Council, they and the developers do not seem to relish push back from local residents who pay their rates on time and who value their small patches of garden. I may need to put up some kind of a shield against the light but my main concern is the Moreporks might not come as close as they did before.

Is there any point in contacting the Council? I doubt it, they will say it's a safety thing and ignore us all, again.