Councillor Cathy Casey said local residents were too scared to leave their homes. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey
Councillor Cathy Casey said local residents were too scared to leave their homes. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey
KEY POINTS:
Residents of a suburban Auckland house blamed for making their street a no-go area are being evicted.
Housing New Zealand has served notice on the tenants of the house, in Range View Road, Mt Albert, where police say a gang of young people has been living with theirparents.
There have been constant complaints from residents that the gang has been harassing visitors and residents and police have even warned people not to go out alone or at night.
A spokesman for Housing Minister Chris Carter today said notice to terminate their tenancy had been delivered on the tenants and the matter would now go to the Tenancy Tribunal.
It acted after receiving affidavits from police and Housing Corporation before issuing the notice, he said.
It was also revealed today that many of the occupants of the controversial house are on bail, on condition they live at the address.
The property has been under police surveillance for some time and Eden-Albert ward councillor Cathy Casey said residents are so scared that even the presence of TV cameras in the street recently could not coax them out.
She was shocked the police had not as she understood it been talking with Housing New Zealand about the issue.
Dr Casey said the agency has told her it never gave permission for its property to be used as a bail house and she claims the situation makes a mockery of bail regulations.
Police said there was little they could say.
"It might be moving it (the trouble) from that area but where is it going to go to," said police spokeswoman, Noreen Hegarty.
She said it was business as usual for police and the problem was not confined to Range View Rd.
However, she said police had been meeting with Housing New Zealand for more than a year about the house and the problems the tenants were causing.
"It is not a new phenomenon for us.
"The concept of law-breaking individuals congregating in one street or neighbourhood is nothing new," she said.
One of the family members was in prison and more than one was on bail waiting for a court appearance.
