The concrete blocks have saved the Ansell family from having another car crash into their yard. Photo/supplied
The concrete blocks have saved the Ansell family from having another car crash into their yard. Photo/supplied
A Lower Hutt man believes the decision to line his berm with concrete blocks has saved his children's lives after a car crashed on his corner today - the third one in 12 months.
Blair and Louise Ansell made headlines late last year for placing the six concrete blocks on their berm after a car ploughed through their fence into their front yard in the early hours of Boxing Day.
An identical incident had happened at their Naenae home in January last year, causing the Ansells sleepless nights as they worried for the safety of their children.
Those two-tonne blocks proved their worth today when a car crashed on their corner once again.
Blair Ansell was at work when he got a "distressed" call from his wife, who had been told by a neighbour that a car had crashed into the blocks.
The blocks were put in place on Boxing Day and have already proved useful to the Ansell family. Photo/supplied
"Basically they've moved about four tonnes of concrete two or three feet, which would have been, basically, through my fence yet again.
"Basically if it happened tomorrow my son probably would have been home and he would have been on that trampoline, and if those blocks weren't there I would have been probably at a funeral and then I would have been going to jail, because I would have been looking for that person and if my son was dead, he would be too, trust me."
Ansell said he would take the matter to court if necessary and fight for the blocks to stay until something was done with the road to stop drivers speeding around the corner of Waddington Drive and Cole St.
"I've basically saved, possibly have saved my child's life, so I have no remorse at all for putting those blocks there.
"It makes me feel like I made the right decision by putting them on my lawn, regardless of the naysayers and anybody who had a problem with them, because as I say, that could have been my kids."
He said neighbours had been "wonderful" about the blocks being in place.
The Hutt City Council representative he'd been dealing with had wanted the Ansells to move the blocks inside the fence line, but after today that would not be happening.
"If I need to go to court and fight to have those blocks left there until the roading situation is sorted out, I am more than happy to do so.
"I have the support of my entire neighbourhood and many more people, financially and morally, to do that, and I'm more than happy to do whatever I need to do. I'm even prepared to build that wall to twice the size if I need to and I have the means and I have the blocks to do so."
Ansell plans to build the wall another two blocks high and reinforce parts of the corner.
He and his wife bought the house to raise their four children in and have poured time and money into renovating it themselves.
"The neighbourhood is great, we don't want to have to go anywhere."
He had a message for everybody speeding on the street.
"I guess my comments are not only to the three drivers who have crashed in the last 12 months, it's to everybody: slow down, you know?
"They're lucky they haven't killed a kid, they're lucky they haven't killed a pedestrian or somebody walking on the footpath, or worse, they could have killed a family."
John Gloag, divisional manager for transport at the Hutt City Council, said it was "disappointing" to hear of another crash and motorists weren't paying notice to the speed limit messages from police and council.
An investigation into options to reduce the risk caused by speeding motorists on the road had been "fast-tracked", he said.
"We're committed to working with the Ansell family and their neighbours to find the right solution for their community. We will very soon be in a position to recommend a preferred permanent option which will be consulted with those living in the immediate area."
A Givealittle page was set up to help the family cover the costs of rebuilding the fence the first time, and the expected $600 excess for rebuilding it the second time.
