Resident fears loss of life at car dump

Children playing among car bodies piled up to four high at a Solway work yard risk losing an arm, a leg or a life, says Masterton teacher Suzie Adamson.
Mrs Adamson, a Solway resident for the past two decades, said a nearby yard within sight of the Solway railway station is a danger to primary school children who traditionally play in the area.
"Children already play there at the weekend and with daylight saving and the holidays starting, parents need to be warned to tell their children to stay away.
"It's a lethal site," she said.
"Children have always played there, at least that's what I've seen since we've been living nearby.
"It's a traditional playground for them.
"Something needs to be done urgently, before the holidays before it's too late."
She has taken her concerns to Masterton District Council and although the council have demanded the site be made safe, she coulnd't see how putting up a sign and a plastic tape made it any safer.
"As parents and teachers we're greatly worried that the car dump at Solway is going to claim a child's arm or leg, or worse still a life."
Mrs Adamson said the pile of wrecks is an eyesore as well, plainly visible from the Solway railway station and the nearby roadway.
"What sort of a greeting to the town is that for a rail traveller or someone coming into town by that road. It's an eyesore an eyesore that could kill."
Masterton District Council planner Sue Southey said the site is zoned industrial and the stockpiling of car bodies on the land is a permitted activity.
"There is no particular height requirement for the car bodies, just that they must be stacked."
She said Occupational Safety and Health officers were called in to inspect the site and the business owners had been told to erect a warning sign and string a plastic tape around the car bodies, which had been done.
She said a start had been made on a permanent fence around the piles of car bodies and that the business owners were waiting on a car-crushing machine that is expected to arrive by late next month.
Mrs Southey said the owners had told her that 15 car bodies were taken from the site since Mrs Adamson raised her concerns and that another 15 would be taken from the area this weekend.
The owner of the car bodies could not be contacted for comment.