Car wreck left on Havelock North hill for months: ‘Someone will get squashed’

The car, left, not long after it crashed on Te Mata Peak Rd in Havelock North on December 20 and, right, after three months of vandalism and being raided for parts the car sits propped up by a piece of wood.

A crashed car sitting on Hastings District Council land is now in a “precarious position” after months of vandalism, a nearby property owner says.

Sandra Duthie, who owns a tenanted home in Te Mata Peak Rd, Havelock North, says she has contacted the council multiple times about the abandoned car, which was on Thursday sitting propped up by a piece of wood.

The hatchback came off the road coming down the peak on December 20, 2024. No one was hurt in the crash.

The stretch of road leading to one of Hawke’s Bay’s most popular scenic tourist attractions has seen more than a dozen crashes in five years and at the time of the crash, the council said the area of Te Mata Peak Rd was in line for improvement given its history of crashes.

A Hastings District Council spokesperson said it was taking some time for the matter to be resolved, but reports to the council had suggested it was “not a safety hazard where it is”.

It was classed as a road accident and initially deemed a police matter, rather than just an abandoned vehicle, meaning council were not the lead agency initially.

The council had to therefore wait for the vehicle owners or their insurers to remove it, the spokesperson said.

“This has not happened, and we have been hearing anecdotal reports that while the vehicle itself is not a safety hazard where it is, it is causing safety concerns because of people stopping on the road above the crash site,” the spokesperson said.

“In response, we wrote to the vehicle owners on March 13, advising they must remove the vehicle by March 23. If this does not happen, council will undertake the removal, the cost of which will be billed to the owner.”

However, Duthie says now that’s not good enough.

“I was willing to wait the 10 days. But on Wednesday morning my tenants sent me a photo of the car propped up by ... wood.

“We have a dangerous situation here. Do we really want to wait for a few more days? Someone will get squashed. It needs to be dealt with now.”

Duthie said it was unacceptable her tenants had to put up with cars stopping in the middle of the night to take parts and vandalise the car.

“It has made them feel unsafe and uneasy. I don’t like the fact they have been put in that position for months.”

On January 7, Duthie received a call from the council about improvements to the road.

“The person I spoke to was from roading. I asked him about the crashed car and told him people were vandalising it. He said he would talk to someone about it.

“He phoned me back on February 3 and said that because the car was on reserve land and not the verge, it would not immediately be towed and that I should go to police.”

She did.

“Police told me it was the council’s responsibility.”

There were more calls and texts and on March 4 she was asked to fill in an Illegal Parking form.

“It has just gone on and on.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.