Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Down your tools: Building on Hastings state houses stopped over power line clearance

Hawkes Bay Today
23 Dec, 2019 01:56 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Unison spokesman Danny Gough said the buildings were not compliant with WorkSafe standards that required a minimum clearance of 2.1 metres between conductors and buildings. Photo / Blair Voorend

Unison spokesman Danny Gough said the buildings were not compliant with WorkSafe standards that required a minimum clearance of 2.1 metres between conductors and buildings. Photo / Blair Voorend

Unison has agreed to move its power lines after work on four new state houses in Hastings was ordered to stop because the buildings were too close to the lines.

The houses being built on Bledisloe Place are among 25 new state houses under construction in the area.

Workers on site were told to down tools this month after Unison Networks became aware of how close the buildings were to to power lines on the street.

Unison spokesman Danny Gough said the buildings were not compliant with WorkSafe standards that required a minimum clearance of 2.1 metres between conductors and buildings.

"One of our fault guys was in the area and saw the site and seeing it didn't look as if it was meeting the minimum clearance talked with the site manager and we had the site shut down within a short amount of time."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Unison cut power around the homes so work could continue safely, Gough said.

"It meant that they are still able to continue work without any risk even if that means they run off generators for a short while."

Residents in the area said they had seen a few line workers come in but didn't see progress slow down with construction at the site.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Gough said that in February Unison had plans to move the lines further from the buildings by using a different configuration of cross arms.

It would need to be funded by Housing New Zealand, Gough said, but he would not disclose the cost, saying it was a commercial matter.

Gough said the situation was unfortunate, but that Housing NZ and its contractors had acted professionally "and have been committed to resolving this issue in an expedient manner".

Kāinga Ora (Housing NZ) programme director Nick Seymour told Stuff: "From the start with this part of the site, we knew that we'd need to relocate some of the high voltage overhead cables near four houses.

Discover more

New Zealand

Hastings to get 200 new houses in next two years, Govt announces

12 Dec 12:32 AM

Building pilot a 'stepping stone' to help Fijian workers back home

13 Dec 11:40 PM

Dry summer puts pressure on local councils and farming industry

13 Dec 03:49 AM
New Zealand

Dump of rain brings short-term relief for struggling farmers in Hawke's Bay

18 Dec 01:08 AM

"To deliver the state homes that are much-needed in Hastings, the plan was always to commence the build, then look at options with the overhead wires, which may include undergrounding," he said.

"That's what we're doing now and this will not slow down the delivery of new, quality state homes in Hastings."

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Police raid reveals dangerous drugs and a home-made taser at dealer's home

Hawkes Bay Today

Thousands feel 4.9 quake in Hawke's Bay

Hawkes Bay Today

Hawke’s Bay Show's new era: Cheaper tickets for 2025, date change likely in 2026


Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Police raid reveals dangerous drugs and a home-made taser at dealer's home
Hawkes Bay Today

Police raid reveals dangerous drugs and a home-made taser at dealer's home

Salisbury offered to sell fantasy by the litre and meth.

13 Aug 08:00 AM
Thousands feel 4.9 quake in Hawke's Bay
Hawkes Bay Today

Thousands feel 4.9 quake in Hawke's Bay

13 Aug 05:58 AM
Hawke’s Bay Show's new era: Cheaper tickets for 2025, date change likely in 2026
Hawkes Bay Today

Hawke’s Bay Show's new era: Cheaper tickets for 2025, date change likely in 2026

13 Aug 04:21 AM


Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet
Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

10 Aug 09:12 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP