Wind doesn't stop blowing the house down

Lowering a new home into place in Napier yesterday. Photo/Doug Laing

Two homes in a development aimed at easing the housing crisis in Napier were lifted into place yesterdaydespite the intermittent winds in Hawke's Bay.

One of the homes in the development in Geddis Ave, Maraenui, was moved in two lifts from truck which had brought the steel-framed buildings from a factory in the Hutt Valley, and by the end of the week five of the homes are expected to be in place, half of the 10-homes projects headed by Housing New Zealand.

A MetService meteorologist said the westerly winds at Hawke's Bay Airport, north of Napier, reached a mean of about 25 knots in the hour around 2.30pm, and while gusty throughout Hawke's Bay increased to the south with 49 knots on the Takapau Plains, and 98 knots at the southern Hawke's Bay extremity of Cape Turnagain, consistently one of the windiest weather stations operated by the agency.

Some rain was being forecast for Wednesday morning, but fine weather with a turn to southwest wins was being forecast for the rest of the week.

The winds caused minor delays during the day on the housing project as crews waited for gusts to die down, but the workmen were generally able to continue groundwork ahead of each lift, which took barely a few minutes as the units were placed on steel piles.