Ask Phoebe: Simple answer to rural letterboxes

The drain audit yeilded an assortment of rubbish heading for the harbour. Photo / Ross White

When I was growing up, houses and farms on country roads were indicated by the occupants' names on the letter boxes. For the past few years this has been overtaken by a numbering system. How did this come about, and why? Russell Salisbury, Pukekohe.

The Rural Address Property Identification system, known as RAPID, allocates numbers to houses and access points on a property, such as dairy shed driveways and haybarns. It was a combined effort by emergency services and Land Information. The rationale behind it is that it can be difficult to pinpoint a property precisely on a long country road, and a consistent numbering system makes it much easier. Numbers also afford the occupants a degree
of security and privacy - how many of us have our names emblazoned on our urban letterboxes?

The numbering system, which has been in place for 15 years or so in some districts, is pretty straightforward. Properties are given a unique number based on their distance along a road (from its start point or intersection with another road to the entranceway of the property) as well as which side of the road the property is on. Numbers on the right side of the road are even; those on the left are odd.

The number given to a property is calculated by measuring the distance between the property and the start point of the road and multiplying this by 100. For example, a property 0.9km along White Rd on the right side of the road will have the Rapid number 90. Likewise, 165 White Rd is 1.65km along White Rd on the left side. Even if a property owner doesn't display a number, the property can still be found. For example, anyone looking for 90 White Rd simply needs to put their odometer to zero at the entrance to White Rd, then travel 0.9km - at which time they will be at or near the property entrance. Knowing this is particularly helpful in the dark when the entrance could otherwise be hard to find. (Sources: police.govt.nz, newplymouthnz.com)

A television programme in early February carried an item about Christchurch City Council sending letters to residents advising that they could be fined $5000 for not cutting grass on their properties. While I think this was OTT, particularly as the residents interviewed had their properties damaged and made unliveable by the earthquake, I would be interested to know if there is any similar bylaw which requires Auckland residents to keep their lawns cut to a reasonable state. We live in an area where recent house sales have been in excess of $1 million and an unkempt property is a real eyesore and lowers property values if you were selling. Richard Hayton, Auckland.

I have had some difficulty getting an answer to this, hence the delay in responding. Each of the former council regions will have had its own take on it, and it appears that the new Auckland Council has not had time to co-ordinate these old bylaws.