He says the fence battle goes back twenty years, its roots in a strange old struggle between a neighbour and a long-gone property developer.
"The poles went up in March. He actually put these poles, like a hundred poles, and they sat for about a month," Mr Aitchison says.
"And then all of a sudden, three guys arrived. It went up over about ten days I guess."
The fence in parts still has small green tags, labels on the pole-tops that seem to read 'Kiwi Timber'.
Parts of the fence jut out, like middle fingers from a fist. In places it resembles a crude rendition of the Roman fortress palisades seen in Asterix books.
Ostensibly, the structure was a kids' fort, and Wellington City Council gave it the thumbs-up.
But Mr Aitchison says no children seem to use the neighbouring property anyway, where a group of agreeable young adults live.
He says one of the tenants just "shook his head" when told about the fence saga.
Mr Aitchison said he rang the council and was told "no, it's compliant".
It's tempting to imagine taking a chainsaw or an axe to the fence. Instead, Mr Aitchison says he called a lawyer.
"He said 'This is terrible. They just can't do this. But we'd have to tackle the council'."
So the Aitchisons fought months of legal battles to get removed what they say the council should have never allowed up in the first place.
"It takes time to get all your ducks in a row. We have to have an expert on the boundary. We have to have an expert on the planning. We have to have an expert on the RMA."
He said he and Sylvia eventually spent $100,000 to go to the Environment Court.
The couple had to spend money, otherwise the council "would have rolled right over us, and told us to bugger off".
The Aitchisons hope the council compensates them for their legal bills, but aren't confident that will happen.
He said the fence immediately slashed his home's value by $900,000.
Mr Aitchison said the fence existed because David Walmsley, one of the neighbouring property owners, was annoyed at the developer who built the apartment building twenty years ago, years before he and Sylvia moved in.
The latest installation is actually Fence 3.0, following earlier constructions since taken down in at the turn of the century and again in 2011.
An earlier Environment Court judgment shows the city council issued an abatement notice to Mr Walmsley in March 2011, ordering the removal of what Mr Aitchison says was Fence 2.0.
Several calls to Mr Walmsley's landline went unanswered and his comments are still being sought.
Wellington deputy mayor Justin Lester said the council intended to carry out the Environment Court order for the demolition of the disputed 'play structure'.
Andy Foster, the council's transport and urban development committee chair, said he had asked council staff for a briefing about the "implications" of the Environment Court decision.
He said one of the implications was that local height to boundary rules in the District Plan had been called into question.
The rules were supposed to basically ensure property owners were protected from aggressive nearby buildings that blocked them from getting sunlight.
And Mr Foster said the building the Aitchisons live in, if built now, would not comply with the District Plan because it exceeded the "sunlight planes".
However, the council agreed with the Aitchisons view that the fence was "an ugly imposition that blocked a great view".
Mr Aitchison is now confident the latest fence will be taken down, and probably within a few weeks, but imagines it won't be long before an attempt is made at building Fence 4.0.
