Rocks reinstated in Allen Bell Drive

Far North District councillor Mate Radich replaced the rocks barring vehicular access to the Parkdale reserve in Kaitaia on Tuesday. Photo / Peter Jackson

The Far North District Council put a stop to vehicles being driven on to Kaitaia's Parkdale Reserve from Allen Bell Drive last year by blocking the entrance with large rocks.

The issue came to a head some weeks after a number of people began camping in the reserve, and the rocks seemed to do the job. Until the last few days.

Residents told the Far North District Council that the vehicles were back, someone having shifted enough rocks out of the way to get past them. And while no one had set up camp they were dumping rubbish, including a mattress, a pile of linen and clothing at one site and a large quantity of roofing material in another.

This week residents found the body of a dog in a bag.

Councillor Mate Radich arrived there on Tuesday with an iron bar, which he used to push the rocks back into place, but he wasn't amused.

"The council could fix this in half an hour if it did the job properly," he said.

"This is where they're coming in, but the council seems to think that the development plan (which will transform the reserve into a major recreational area for the town) will fix it.

"They'll start camping again if we don't do it properly."

Meanwhile the children who had been riding motorcycles and a quad on footpaths and a wide Allen Bell Drive berm for some time last year had gone quiet, but they too were back last week. An elderly couple, who complained last year that their concerns, including for their physical safety, were not being taken seriously by the police (Elderly couple fear they are blacklisted, December 10), said they were much happier with the more recent response.

They had had a "good talk" with Far North area commander Inspector Riki Whiu, and had also been well served by local officers.

The revival of the bike problem had been reported to the police, and they understood that the family concerned had apologised.