Whanganui couple hit with $750 fine from district council over cabin in front yard

A Durie Hill couple is at loggerheads with Whanganui District Council over a cabin on the front of their property.

The council does not allow accessory buildings and minor residential dwellings in front yards and Rachael and Mike Woodhead have already received a $750 infringement notice.

They said there was insufficient room at the side of their home or in the backyard for the cabin, which has been there since February.

Rachael Woodhead said her 18-year-old niece Sabina Halliday moved to Whanganui from Whangārei last October following a period of family instability.

Rachael Woodhead (right) and Sabina Halliday outside the cabin on the front of their property. Photo / Bevan Conley

The cabin currently serves as a work office but Halliday, who is studying through Training For You, will be allowed to move in at the end of term two - in about two weeks.

“We wanted her to tick off a couple of goals and work towards something - to get a sense of accomplishment - and she has done that,” Woodhead said.

“This is a hill I’m prepared to die on. She is my niece and I love her. She has come so far since she has been with us.

“I’m doing everything I can to make sure she doesn’t feel like she has to go. The last thing I want is for her to feel unwelcome.”

A council spokesperson said, wherever possible, it worked with homeowners to resolve the issue and bring the property up to standard when it did not comply with the district plan.

If the Woodheads’ cabin was not moved, the council would “follow the usual procedure” which could result in prosecution.

“Under the district plan, cabins are classified as accessory buildings,” the spokesperson said.

“Councils around the country require accessory buildings to be placed behind or to the side of a main residence.

“This is because accessory buildings placed in front of a main residence negatively affect the appearance of the property, which impacts street appeal.”

Sabina Halliday will move into the cabin at the end of term two. Photo / Bevan Conley

According to the council’s district plan, accessory buildings at the front of principal buildings “can dominate property frontages, undermine streetscape uniformity and, if not sited appropriately, obscure views of buildings from the street”.

Rachael Woodhead said their street was “not uniform at all”.

“There are all sorts of different-aged buildings with things at the front and the back. There is grass way high, half-painted houses and [car] wrecks on properties.

“Ironically, this is the best our front yard has ever looked.

“It’s been a job site with piles of timber and building material all over it for the past two years.”

An Official Information Act request by the couple showed the council received 13 complaints about temporary minor residential dwellings or accessory buildings situated on the front of properties in Whanganui in the past 12 months.

Infringement notices were issued in two instances, with one cabin being removed and one being relocated to the rear of the property.

Mike Woodhead said the couple had no intention of paying the infringement notice or moving the cabin.

The option of putting the cabin on a trailer had also been denied by the council, he said.

“You can have a boat in your front yard and you can have a camper [van] on there and that’s no problem.

“A cabin might not fit in an area like College Estate - where all the houses have been built around the same time - but around here, they’ve been built between 1940 and 1980.

“It‘s all different.”

Rachael Woodhead said their house was relatively small - 110sq m - and the couple’s two teenage children also lived there.

“I work from home with a full office set up that includes three [computer] monitors.

“The only other place I could possibly put the monitors would be on the kitchen table but that just wouldn’t work.

“We are pretty cramped already.”

Woodhead said her niece had come to Whanganui for a fresh start and had already made huge strides.

“She has gone from being withdrawn and nervous to a confident kid who is doing her course and driving around with a restricted licence.

“We are putting a stake in the ground - we won’t kick family out.

“They [the council] will have to take the cabin from us. It’s not fair, it’s not justified and it’s not reasonable.”

The council spokesperson said a review of the district plan would start later this year.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.