Strong winds cause ‘The Playing Windmills, a piece of public art in Hobsonville, to produce loud noise which has infuriated residents.
Video / Supplied
Residents of a West Auckland suburb found themselves at their wits’ end with the noise generated by a piece of public art that generated an “insane” racket when the wind blew - forcing them to take action.
Rising pressure over the din came to a head in Hobsonville on Sunday night as gales hit and sent the installation into overdrive.
The Playing Windmills by Leon van den Eijkel is part of the Didsbury Art Trail and features a series of large windmills, based on the classic child’s toy.
But one of the windmills was not playing nice.
In strong winds, a grinding, clanging noise reverberated around the homes at the site near Hobsonville Point Primary School, with the noise described by locals as “insane” and similar to an aircraft taking off.
It got so bad on Sunday night that locals considered taking matters into their own hands, joking about chopping the windmill down or tangling it up with rope.
As the tempest struck, locals shared video of the scene online and began discussing how to stop the noise, which had plagued them for years.
The windmills were installed eight years ago and have previously been removed due to noise complaints, only to return and eventually begin annoying their neighbours again.
Amid fears that disgruntled Hobsonville residents might take a saw to the colourful artwork, resident Dan French decided to act, weighing up intervening himself before calling Fire and Emergency NZ to stop the artwork which he said sounded like it was about to take flight.
French told the Herald he thought the installation was “ridiculous” and was concerned that some of the other fans that form the artwork would start making noise.
“It’s only a matter of time,” he said.
French said some of his neighbours had measured the sound at 90 decibels inside their homes and the disturbance was keeping young children awake and families on edge.
Hobsonville Point locals Dan French and Kellee Cook are upset about the noise generated by a malfunctioning windmill which is part of "The Playing Windmills", a piece of the Didsbury Art Trail. Photo / Dean Purcell
Responding to the call, a local fire crew used a piece of pipe and some rope from French’s boat tender to put a stop to the cacophony.
“Sleep easy everyone. No more noise,” French told relieved residents on the local community Facebook page.
“Take Hobsonville Fire Station some IPA if you appreciate your sleep. And someone get all those damn fans repaired or removed.”
Less than 24 hours later, the offending windmill was gone.
French told the Herald he was pleased that it had been removed but expressed concern that the problem would reoccur. He also noted that council workers had removed more than just the windmill.
An Auckland Council spokesperson confirmed that they had previously received multiple complaints about the noise but staff had never heard the noise for themselves until they visited on Monday.
Peter Tilley, the Art Collection Lead for Auckland Council, told the Herald that the council’s public art team visited the site after noise control staff had assessed it - and discovered the problem.
Tilley said they would now need to decide if the windmills would stay.
“One of the team visited the site and after around 30 minutes one of the windmills began to oscillate and make a loud noise. Contractors have now removed the windmill and found two tears in the aluminium blades which were causing the oscillation. We will be assessing the extent of the damage in the near future and discussing the future of the artwork.”
Chris Marriner is an Auckland-based journalist covering trending news and social media. He joined the Herald in 2003 and previously worked in the Herald’s visual team. His mother is still his biggest fan.
