Taunting a street: The case of the moving car infuriating Flaxmere

Residents of Ayr St, Flaxmere believe a woman is deliberately flouting the law by moving her car every seven days and want it removed. Photo / Duncan Brown

A rogue, battered car on a Hastings street is riling residents, because it keeps moving just before it's due to be towed.

Since late last year, the black Ford Laser has been working its way around Ayr St. It has been moved short distances every seven days.

Hastings District Council's bylaws required proof a car had been genuinely abandoned before it was allowed to tow or remove it.

A resident, who did not wish to be named, said the car has not been registered for more than 12 months, didn't have a warrant of fitness and was unroadworthy with a smashed front windscreen.

He said he had contacted the female owner, who told him she lived on Lorne Cres and there was nowhere for her to park the car.

"Lorne Cres is around about seven times the length of Ayr St and it sounds absolutely ludicrous to me that she can't find a park.

"I've talked to the council ... and the police can't do anything about it because it is not stolen and not in the middle of the road."

Residents believe the car is an "eyesore" with a smashed window. Photo / Duncan Brown

He said the woman, who looked in her late 20s, moved the car during the early hours of the morning.

A woman who lived on the street said the woman had removed the steering wheel from the car on one occasion, in an attempt to prevent a towing company moving it.

The steering wheel was back in place when Hawke's Bay Today visited the street this week.

Scratches and dings are all over the car. Photo / Duncan Brown

"The whole neighbourhood is annoyed," the resident said.

"I don't know why she won't park it at her house."

She said the car owner's attitude towards the situation had caused "an upheaval" at times.

Hastings councillor for Flaxmere and Hastings Ambassador Henare O'Keefe said he feels for the residents involved.

"I hear their frustration and anger. You have a person here who is deliberately flaunting the bylaw.

"I think council, on some occasions, needs to buck the trend, and in this case go against policy and do what is morally and ethically right, and move it from this street," O'Keefe said.

A Hastings District Council spokesperson said several complaints had been received regarding the vehicle in Ayr Street.

The council intended to remove the car early next week if it hadn't heard back from the owner, the spokesperson said.

"The council tows vehicles because they have genuinely been abandoned. One of the evaluating criteria is that the vehicle remains unmoved for seven days. In this case, the vehicle has been moved.

"The council has been in discussion and written to the vehicle owner. Unfortunately the vehicle has still been moved around.

"Given the information received from the public, council staff's own observations of the vehicle and its condition, and the WOF and licence status, the owner of the vehicle has been written to and advised to remove the vehicle [from Ayr St] otherwise it will be towed."