Both sites are within Rodney Hide’s City of the Supersized Bureaucracy, in which planners have been given wider powers.
What those planners told Julie Cotton is this: in Epsom, the only colour you have permission to paint you house is white. But in Kaipara, virtually the only colour for which you don’t have permission to paint your house is white. (Yes, dear reader, in the Brave New City anything that isn’t prohibited is made compulsory.) From the Herald story:
The villa had been painted white its whole life - a council heritage requirement for a house of that age in Epsom - and the Cottons wanted it to stay that way.
However, shortly after moving it to Tapora, the family were told by a council inspector they had to paint the house one of 50 dark colours, including green, brown, or black.
The order was based on the West Coast Policy Area, which states parts of the North Rodney area landscape are highly exposed to the risks of development, meaning the colour and material of houses should complement the surrounding environment
Yes, that’s right, the RMA, the District Plan and Rodney’s planners have all been insisting that this house, which can’t be seen from any road, must essentially be painted in camouflage in order not to offend non-existing passers by. So that poor Julie Cotton, who always wanted “a big, white house on a farm,” is now instead faced with painting her house to look like an army barracks.
Just another story from this Brave New City.
5 comments:
You have to laugh at the stupidity of the laws I guess.
Nevertheless, while we might sympathise with her, chances are that at that last election, and at the upcoming election, she voted for and will vote for either ACT, National, Labour, or the Greens. None of them advocate or consistently advocate private property rights. An important lesson for her, and all of us.
Julian
I too saw that article today and the arrogance of a local body telling somebody what colour they may (or may not ) paint their house is frankly breathtaking. New Zealanders are correctly named 'sheeple' for putting up with this tyranny for so long.
I am beginning to think that the oft-quoted reference to New Zealanders being 'sheeple' is a gross insult to our woolly animal friends.
After all, sheep don't vote every three years to expand the capacity of the local freezing works, do they?
Mike
I get some consolation from the fact that nearly everyone except me votes for the mess they are in, and I'm more able to cope with the mess they voted for than I am. <>
The idea that the SuperCity would be more efficient was laughable. Rodney Hide and Act lost a lot of credibility by building the equivalent of the USSR. Bigger is better when it's earned every inch of the way, like Apple did. But not even private companies can maintain that after the founder leaves - the best they do is hold the line and perhaps grow for a while like General Motors and Ford did by riding a vast motoring boom.
The good thing about private companies is that they go bust and their parts are recycled to more successful enterprises.
It's interesting to see whether democracies will eventually stop voting to take opm. My grandfather in 1936 said Labour and welfare winning was the beginning of the way down. As an ignorant and naive youngster when my mother told me that, I presumed that he was a dit doddery and old. It wasn't long into adulthood that I realized that bludgers do not make great countries.
Answer: Paint it white and say "see you in court"
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