The noise from parties at Wilson’s house began to become a big problem for the neighbour’s family when his and his wife’s baby was born a couple of years ago, the neighbour claimed.
He said the parties took place about once a month and were attended by Hawke’s Bay rugby players.
“We couldn’t get our child to sleep because he was waking all the time with these parties.
“Initially I tried to play it nice, just in the middle of the night sending him a message saying ‘turn it off’ or ‘quiet it down’ and he would respond saying ‘Oh yup, sorry’. He would try his best to tone it down but it was still not enough.”
He said the party Wilson hosted to celebrate the Ranfurly Shield win on the morning of October 1 “tipped us over the edge”.
“That was until about 9.30am and we didn’t sleep at all,” he claimed.
“With spew on your driveway and smashed bottles all over your driveway, you kind of hope they would get the message themselves that it is not behaviour that should be done in any neighbourhood, let alone one that you’re a metre or two away from each other.”
Hawke’s Bay Today understands it was after leaving this party that a Magpies player drove into a fence, regarding which he has since pleaded guilty to charges of drink driving and careless driving.
The Ranfurly Shield split in two sometime between 7.30 and 8.30 that morning after being dropped onto a concrete kitchen floor. It remains unclear if this was at Wilson’s house.
A New Zealand Rugby (NZR) investigation into the treatment of the Ranfurly Shield in the weeks following confirmed the shield was accidentally dropped by a player.
An image shared of the broken Log o’ Wood with white powder on it caused outrage, but there was insufficient evidence arising from either the investigation or the independent testing to positively confirm the unknown substance on the shield, NZR said.
The neighbour said that at 2am on October 1, his wife rang noise control because of how raucous the party was, but she wasn’t able to get through to them.
He eventually phoned again at 6.40am and got through.
A Napier City Council spokeswoman said noise control received a call to Wilson’s address at 6.42am on October 1 and attended at 6.50am, but recorded no excessive noise.
The neighbour claimed he spoke with Hawke’s Bay Rugby CEO Jay Campbell, who said Wilson would be spoken to.
But four weeks later, Wilson hosted another party, the neighbour said.
“That’s where I thought if he is not getting that message then he will never get a message.”
He said he believed “this isn’t good enough from someone who is representing Hawke’s Bay as a development coach”.
The noise from the parties and the fact he and his wife had another baby on the way meant they were considering selling their home and moving elsewhere to “get away from it all”.
A Napier City Council spokeswoman said noise control officers attended the property in response to a call received at 7.59pm on October 28.
“Noise Control arrived at the site at 8.13pm, noted excessive noise and served an END [Excessive Noise Direction] notice,” the spokeswoman said.
A second complaint about the property was received at 1.20am on October 29 and Noise Control attended at 1.37am, but the council spokeswoman said no excessive noise was noted.
Noise Control attended again just over an hour later at 3.01am following a third complaint.
“Noise Control records show that excessive noise was noted however police did not attend (as required by the Noise Control Contractor SOP) and consequently, noise control cancelled the seizure,” the spokeswoman said.
“For the complaints over 28/29 October, an infringement was issued due to a contravention of an excessive noise direction, in the amount of $500.”
Wilson confirmed he had received a fine for noise from a party when approached by Hawke’s Bay Today but declined to comment further.
Campbell said the noise control fine was a personal issue. He declined to comment further.
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz
