Wanganui District Council yesterday stopped an unauthorised excavation on an Ikitara Rd hillside property following complaints from furious neighbours.
Residents of Ikitara Rd alerted the council and the Chronicle to the destruction being wrought by a contractor's bulldozer yesterday morning. But by then the new neighbour had cleared swaths of bush to make room for a hillside driveway.
The property is on Ikitara Rd, but steeply backs on to Mt View Rd and Iris Pl.
Neighbours in both streets said the man had cleared dozens of trees, some of them natives, in the past week, and left gaping holes in the property.
They believed he planned to build houses on the property. The clearing means some neighbours can now see the river and city centre, which were completely obscured before work began.
The area also has a history of slips, leaving them concerned about the effect the clearing work will have on the stability of the earth.
The Chronicle spoke to several neighbours who did not want to be named.
They were all disappointed the work had gone ahead, apparently without council approval.
One said the labourers had chopped down a tree that was on their property and ruined their view.
"We considered it a little natural native reserve.
"And I don't think you need to be an engineer to see how unstable this is going to be."
It had taken only a week for the labourers to clear space for a driveway up the hill.
Several people said they had tried to speak to the man but did not find him very approachable.
"We've heard there's supposed to be someone coming along to see if it's suitable to build there, but it should never have come to that."
Yesterday afternoon Mayor Michael Laws said the council's response to the residents' concerns was to serve an abatement notice on the three parties with a financial interest in the property.
He said while the owners had lodged an application with the council for consent to develop three residential sections on the block the consent had not yet been granted.
The owners had now been instructed to stop all excavation and clearance work and engage a professional geo-technical engineer to investigate soil stability issues.
The council would now require a full report on those issues and on the implications of any of the planned excavation works that could contribute to instability.
Mr Laws said the council was also concerned about potential disturbance to natural drainage systems on the hillside and the prospect of silt and debris being washed on the council's road.
He said after council officers had inspected the site they acknowledged the residents' concerns were justified.
The errant property owners have just five days to engage an engineer and 20 days to produce the report and deliver it to the council.
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