Former Councillor’s Gorse-Covered Section Draws Complaints

Tuesday, 4 March 2025, 8:24 pm
Article: Matthew Rosenberg - Local Democracy Reporter

A former Invercargill city councillor is battling the organisation she once represented over an unkempt section.

In December, Karen Arnold objected to a bylaw notice being issued against her vacant section which has breached council rules for several years.

A report prepared for a hearing panel on Tuesday shows the site has drawn three complaints since early 2022 and failed eight of 10 inspections during that time.

It said the most recent inspection, undertaken in October 2024, found it was mostly covered in gorse.

Arnold highlighted a range of concerns with the December notice which requested all long grass and noxious plants be removed.

Those included the notice failing to inform what date the appeal period ended, not factoring in public holidays, not describing how the property was in breach and not being signed.

Arnold said the required remedy of removing and disposing of all vegetation was unreasonable because long grass was allowed, subject to conditions.

In response, the council said the letter and bylaw notice were both dated, with 62 days given to complete the work - an increase on the standard 28 days.

It said the request to clear the land was reasonable given its overgrown nature, with the notice providing a general statement on the breach.

"The letter and notice are signed by the environmental compliance officer, this has been the officer's signature for many years."

Tuesday's report said Arnold purchased the property in 2019 after separate titles were issued the year before.

The previous owner told the council all sections were clean and tidy at the time of sale with efforts made to remove gorse.

Arnold was elected to Invercargill City Council in 2013 and 2016, but stood down near the end of her second term.

In 2019, RNZ reported she had been declared bankrupt after losing a defamation suit against Stuff and then-mayor Tim Shadbolt.

Arnold had taken legal action over comments made by Shadbolt in his Southland Times column during 2014 and 2015.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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