Twins Laker and Elijah Brown, 15, will continue to shoot hoops once the hoop 'structure' has been shifted. Photo / Paul Taylor
Twins Laker and Elijah Brown, 15, will continue to shoot hoops once the hoop 'structure' has been shifted. Photo / Paul Taylor
A Napier family who installed a basketball hoop in their backyard have been found in breach of the district plan and forced to shift the "structure".
Basketball coach and Suzie Hiha and her family have slammed the decision, saying they shouldn't be forced to jump through legal hoops to allowtheir kids to have fun.
Hiha and her family installed the hoop, which can go up to 10ft, and as low as 3ft, complete with a concrete slab court, one metre from the fence of their Te Awa home about a month ago.
But within weeks, they'd received a visit from Napier City Council.
The family said that visit came after a confrontation with a neighbour who was allegedly annoyed with the amount of noise the hoop and the basketballing activity around it generated.
The hoop was set up complete with a concrete pad court. Photo / Supplied
The council said it was deemed a "structure", meaning it needed to be moved two metres further away from the property's fence or removed.
Napier City Council told Hawke's Bay Today that while it was not in the business of chasing "small matters", a complaint about the hoop had forced its hand in this case.
Hiha, whose husband is also a basketball coach, said they put in the hoop to allow their three teenage children to play.
The disgruntled neighbour lived more than 20 metres from where the hoop was installed, she said.
"It really doesn't impede him at all," she said.
Teenagers playing on the newly installed hoop before the complaint. Photo / Supplied
"We were trying to say to him: 'well hold on a minute, we're neighbours, we're going to be living next to each other for a lot of years, where is the compromise and really why couldn't you have come over and talked to us about it'."
Hiha says they were "more than willing" to ensure their children didn't play late at night.
"I will definitely tell them to keep the noise down, but they're 15-year-old boys."
Hiha says they spoke to the neighbours directly affected, both of whom don't have children and have "no problem with it".
While moving the hoop two metres is "not ideal", Hiha says it is better than taking it down.
A Napier City Council spokeswoman said the council was legally obligated to investigate the complaint about the hoop.
"Technically the basketball hoop was found to be a 'structure' under the Napier District Plan and therefore needed to comply with the front yard set back," she said.
"The property owner is currently undertaking some foundation works to make the hoop compliant."
The installer of the hoop was Airtime Hoops. Director Michael Manning said it was the first time in seven years that the company had encountered this situation with a council.
The company would waive the $700 fee for moving the hoop, he said.
Hawke's Bay Today's attempts to contact the neighbour on Friday were unsuccessful.
