By David Hill
Local Democracy Reporter
A resident of Kaiapoi feels some bad vibrations from the adjacent Sterling project.
Paul Hodson, who has a background as a building manager, said it had been a ‘nightmare’ to watch Sterling’s development unfold beyond its western frontier.
He has videos of papers on his desk spinning, while heavy machinery buzzes just 50 to 60 feet from his boundary, making him nervous about the structural integrity of his home.
“We have a nightmare with dust on our windowsills and we can’t even put the laundry on the line,” he said.
“They spray it, but if they leave for the day or on the weekend, the northwesters blow the dust up again.”
The developers were compacting 97,000 cubic meters of fill to raise the land by 1.7 meters.
The new buildings would tower over Mr. Hodson’s house when built.
He said a condition of the resource’s approval was that the developer complete a survey of his home before work began, to make sure there was no damage to his property from the vibrations.
In March, he received a letter from the developer informing him that drainage would be built next to his property and that his western boundary fence would be replaced.
After he had started to knock down his fence in preparation, Mr. Hodson had not received any further communication for six months.
With machines buzzing next door last week, he complained to the planning staff of the Waimakariri District Council.
By Wednesday afternoon (September 21), he had received an email from the developer saying that he was coming to fill out a survey.
Tracy Tierney, Waimakariri County Council’s general manager of planning and regulation, said there were provisions in the authorization of the funds to manage any issues.
“Developers are usually very responsive because they don’t want to unnecessarily generate a problem.
“We need to keep an eye on the conditions for permissions and in situations like this we’ll look into it more closely to come up with a solution.”
Mr Hodson said he would like to replace his fence, as promised, as his section had been left unprotected.
He said he understood that supply shortages could lead to delays, but he would like better communication from the developer.
“I understand that these developments must happen, but a new subdivision should not be at the expense of the existing residents.”
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