Fence bid unlikely to succeed

An application by Wanganui District Council and police to remove a fence around the local Hells Angels headquarters is unlikely to succeed, a councillor says.

The council yesterday voted 8-5 to partner police in applying to the district court for an order to remove the two-metre high fence in Kaikokopu Road, Wanganui.

Inspector Duncan MacLeod, of Wanganui police, told the council the fence stopped police from having ready access to the headquarters in executing search warrants and chasing fleeing offenders, who had evaded police by entering the gang compound.

Councillor Rob Vinsen said he had surveyed the property's neighbours, many of whom were elderly, and they did not want the fence taken down because it would lessen their privacy.

The council resolution was politicking on Mayor Michael Laws' behalf, he said.

He expected the application would not succeed in court, as the fence had been built with council consent in the 1980s.

Four councillors had accepted an invitation from the gang to visit their property on Tuesday, but the visit was cancelled at the weekend.

Mr Laws had called Mr Vinsen the "local criminal gangs' leading apologist" in response to the plan to visit the headquarters.

- NZPA