By BRIAN RUDMAN
It's a year now since the battle over the great privet hedge of Balmoral erupted, but peace seems as far away as ever. This despite months of shuttle diplomacy by veteran peacenik and Auckland City councillor Maire Leadbeater.
Her latest solution, backed by the local community board, is to rip out the ancient street-long hedge and replace it with pittosporums.
But as the hedge itself is only a side issue in the whole affair, this may just complicate the problem rather than solve it.
Like me, you've probably forgotten the detail since my last bulletin from the front.
Back in 1918 the developer of the Queens Ave subdivision was required to build a public access road to his housing development. To prevent the developer of adjacent land to the south getting a free ride on his roadway, he set aside a 30cm wide strip of land between his road and the neighbouring development.
This sliver of land, vested as the joint property of all the Queens Ave residents, became an effective barrier against Halston Roaders using Queens Ave to access their homes.
Between this spite strip - a recognised property term at the time - and the roadway, was a broad council-owned berm.
Alongside the strip the council planted a privet and tecoma hedge, now more than 3m high. A row of cherry blossom trees on the berm also attracts springtime sightseers.
Over the years, attempts to breach the hedge by the outlanders of Halston Rd have been put down by their Queens Ave neighbours. The latest attempt was last September when Halston Roader Bruce Parr applied for permission to put in driveway to the rear of his property.
His next-door neighbour Carol Ann Woodward joined in and soon lawyers letters were flying both ways across his back fence.
For good measure, the Halston Roaders also claimed the privet fence was injurious to their health.
Across in Queens Ave, the official trustees of the spite strip, family therapists David and Ann Epston, accused their neighbours of trying to destroy their "green belt." Highly suspicious that ulterior motives lay behind the health arguments, Mrs Epston refused to contemplate the replacement of the hedge until their neighbours "abandoned their adversarial approach [and] all attempts to take our land or gain access across it to our street."
For most of this year Mrs Leadbeater has shuttled between the two streets - they won't meet together - seeking common ground. One breakthrough was getting the Halston Roaders to withdraw their petition demanding access rights through Queens Ave. They did that after realising the council had no legal power to breach the spite strip. But instead of giving up the fight, the Halston Roaders have dug their toes in over the "health hazards" of the hedge. Everything from causing hayfever to harbouring rats.
Mrs Epston, it seems, remains highly suspicious of any change. Despite this, the community board at its last meeting, recommended to the council that a pittosporum hedge replace the existing hedge, about a metre closer to the roadway.
As a gesture to the Queens Ave residents, it also supported declaring the berm a reserve. But resolution is no nearer and streetscape operations manager Surendra Dass has referred the matter to the city solicitor.
Back in April an exasperated Mr Dass said an "incredible amount of time and energy had been expended, to no avail, towards finding a mutually acceptable solution." Council officers would not spend "any more time and resources on the hedge issue." Famous less than last words.
Mr Dass' worry now is that the community board's shuttle diplomacy, however well-meaning, did not quite fit the council's formal consultation model.
He suspects there might be a need to go back to square one with formal surveys and public meetings. Also, removing the hedge would involve working within the dripline of the cherry trees, thus requiring a full resource consent hearing, complete with yet more consultation. I'll update you this time next year.
<i>Rudman's city:</i> 'Spite strip' hedging stops peace
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