Glyn and Kathleen Hardy have been in a long-running dispute with a neighbour over her fence. Lawyers, an engineer and a consultant are among those being sucked into a six-year battle in a Christchurch retirement village. At the centre of the maelstrom is a wooden board and trellis fence. Retirees Glyn and Kathleen Hardy live on the opposite side of a shared driveway from neighbour Patsy Clegg in the Sanctuary Villas retirement subdivision in Christchurch. Clegg has a fence around her property bordering the driveway, and the Hardys wanted it pushed back to its original location when they moved in. The Hardys said they found it difficult to manouevre in and out of their garage, or down the shared driveway, without bumping into the fence or oncoming traffic. Glyn Hardy said the fence, which breaks body corporate rules because it encloses village land, was causing him stress. “This is the worst thing in my life coming in here. When I bought here there was nothing on that bend [of the driveway] at all.” Kathleen Hardy said the situation was having a detrimental effect on her husband’s health. “It’s killing him.” The couple, who have been petitioning the Sanctuary Villas body corporate since 2011, said they did not understand why the body corporate had not asked Clegg to push the fence back. “We’ve spent $1000 ourselves [on a consultant] and they said the fence has to come down,” Kathleen Hardy said. Body corporate chairman Paul Lyons said while Clegg had technically broken the rules, the situation was legally complicated. “It’s not a simple yes or no answer. When she bought the property there was a fence in position put in by the previous owner without body corporate consent. “She did break the rules under an honest impression she had rights.” Lyons said the issue involved several laws about privacy, resource consent and titles. Patsy Clegg said the ongoing fracas upset her and she felt she was being bullied by the Hardys. “They’re actually constantly putting in complaints all the time. It goes quiet, then they put in another complaint. “At the moment I’m working with the body corporate committee. There have been changes made to the fence already. “I’ve got no privacy front or back. It’s also a safety issue.” The body corporate did not indicate when the issue would be resolved because there were still several legal issues to conclude.
