{"id":5067,"date":"2023-05-31T08:10:05","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T20:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=5067"},"modified":"2023-05-31T08:10:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T20:10:05","slug":"family-desperate-to-escape-motorway-construction-zone-in-their-backyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=5067","title":{"rendered":"Family desperate to escape motorway construction zone in their backyard"},"content":{"rendered":"

A stressed-out south Auckland family is calling on\u00a0Waka Kotahi<\/a>\u00a0to \u201cdo the right thing\u201d and buy their property before their backyard becomes a motorway construction zone.<\/p>\n

Three generations of the Munaf family live in a property that borders State Highway 1 in Papakura.<\/p>\n

They have been served with a notice indicating that a small grassed area where the two children play will be required for\u00a0an expanded six lane motorway<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last year a car flew off the existing highway, crashing into their fence and taking out a tree \u2013 metres away from a paddling pool. Now the motorway is set to get bigger and closer.<\/p>\n

But, what really worries Ashna Munaf is that a larger section of their land will also be required temporarily for a construction zone to provide access for work crews.<\/p>\n

Waka Kotahi\u2019s resource consent application shows the Munaf\u2019s property could be subjected to\u00a080 decibels<\/a>\u00a0of construction noise until the first stage of the project is complete.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the equivalent of an in-sink garbage disposal, or about twice the noise of a vacuum cleaner.<\/p>\n

The Munafs never had their say on the resource consent or any potential conditions, because it was not publicly notified \u2013 instead being submitted under the controversial\u00a0fast-track consent process<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Munaf has a business importing fragile decorations, which she keeps in a cottage that will be adjacent to the new boundary, and she\u2019s convinced the constant vibration will crack her curios.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s hard enough to get them in the country without them breaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2019, in nearby\u00a0Conifer Grove<\/a>, a group of about 20 homeowners alleged that vibrations from similar roadworks on the motorway near their houses had caused hundreds of thousands worth of damage.<\/p>\n

Stuff<\/em>\u00a0understands Waka Kotahi settled with at least some of the homeowners, despite it not publicly acknowledging fault.<\/p>\n

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\"Ashna<\/div>
\n
RICKY WILSON\/STUFF<\/cite><\/div>\n
Ashna Munaf has a home business importing and selling delicate decorations including vases, lamps and other ornaments.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Munafs bought the Papakura property with their parents. It’s their first time owning a home in New Zealand after emigrating from Fiji and having rented.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was our dream to leave the landlord inspections behind and provide a space for our kids. They\u2019ve grown up here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the work they\u2019ve put into making their home, including a chicken coop and extensive vegetable garden, Munaf believes staying would be detrimental to their health and quality of life.<\/p>\n

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Having workers and trucks in their backyard is also deeply unsettling for the family, who hold Muslim beliefs and place importance on women\u2019s privacy while they are home alone during the day.<\/p>\n

The transport agency has been reluctant to put a timeframe on how long the work will take \u2013 only adding to the list of stresses.<\/p>\n

However, a consultancy firm and lawyers appointed by Waka Kotahi to handle property acquisitions has been refusing to consider purchasing the whole property, in favour of a \u201cpartial acquisition\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey haven\u2019t taken into account the effect it will have on my family. It just dollars to them,\u201d Munaf said.<\/p>\n

\n
\"The<\/div>
\n
RICKY WILSON\/STUFF<\/cite><\/div>\n
The stress is taking an emotional toll on the Munaf family. Ashna Munaf and lawyer Adina Thorn in the backyard.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lawyer\u00a0Adina Thorn<\/a>\u00a0is representing the Munafs. She said making them stay was \u201cmean and unreasonable\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWaka Kotahi just needs to acquire the whole property and use it as a construction site, then they can sell it, but don\u2019t make this family prisoners in their own home.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s called for the governing board of Waka Kotahi to visit the site for themselves and stop hiding behind a consultancy hired to do the agency\u2019s \u201cdirty work\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to come and spend the night here and see how noisy it is. I\u2019ll even pay for their sleeping bags.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Waka Kotahi spokesperson refused to comment on negotiations with the Munafs, but said it worked with property owners on a case by case basis to get \u201cthe best possible solution\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWaka Kotahi understands that the Public Works Act (PWA) process for acquiring land can be unsettling and a stressful time for property owners.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s always our preference to reach agreement with affected landowners, [but] in situations where an agreement cannot be reached, the PWA provides a process for the Crown to formally take land.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This is a Public Interest Journalism funded role through NZ On Air<\/div>\n
SOURCE STUFF NEWS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A stressed-out south Auckland family is calling on\u00a0Waka Kotahi\u00a0to \u201cdo the right thing\u201d and buy their property before their backyard becomes a motorway construction zone. Three generations of the Munaf family live in a property that borders State Highway 1 in Papakura. They have been served with a notice indicating that a small grassed area […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-nz-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5067"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5070,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5067\/revisions\/5070"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}