Big bill for V8 rooftop freebies

Waikato Times

V8 VIEWS: Spectators watch from the roof of the Whites' King St home in 2008.

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A Hamilton family and 10 others have each been fined $1500 for viewing the V8s from rooftops or makeshift stands.

But Hamilton City Council says it will keep a hard line on the alleged Building Act infringements to "send a strong message."

City dentist Ron White, who owns a house on the King St part of the Frankton circuit, is outraged at the instant fine, which was mailed to him last week.

"It's just unbelievable and I suppose it's typical of the council, they just think they are more important than the people."

The Waikato Times this year visited the two-storey 1920s house during the Hamilton 400 event, where Mr White's children and friends sat on the roof watching the cars speed by. They did the same in 2008 and received no fine.

"It's unprincipled, the whole thing. I just want them to drop us and leave it alone and let us get along with our lives," Mr White said.

"This is an attack on the citizens of the city, this is just rotten."

Mr White said he had taken legal advice about the $1500 infringement notice, which the council said must be paid by August 7.

In an ironic twist, Mr White wasn't even in town during the V8s as he is not a fan of them. He called the notice "a huge slap in the face".

He was adamant he wouldn't pay.

Heather White, Mr White's former wife, was in the house during the racing and said she felt like a prisoner in her own home. She said the council was "being over-zealous over nothing".

"We bent over backwards for the V8s. They blocked us in, we couldn't even move our cars for days. If anything I think they owe us money."

But the council's building control manager Phil Saunders said he and his staff went to great lengths before the V8s to warn people what they could and couldn't do under the Building Act.

He said staff did a letter drop and even walked the track and communicated with all business owners, tenants and homeowners to let them know the rules.

"Our role is the health and safety of people and we take that quite seriously. We gave everyone the information, but there were people who didn't listen."

Mr Saunders said council staff spotted the alleged infringements during the racing and even took photographic evidence.

He said staff reported children being up on roofs and even a couch in one case.

"These set-ups put people at risk, we don't have much choice. It's rather good luck than good judgment that something didn't happen.

"Someone could have easily fallen from one of those roofs."

Mr Saunders said eight notices were sent out for people being on roofs, while three others were for makeshift stands.

He said a number of people around the circuit followed the rules and legally set up stands.

Hamilton 400 event promoter Dean Calvert said what people did in or on their own homes during the V8s "was not our responsibility".

However, Mr Calvert did have concerns about safety and the possibility of people in elevated areas throwing things like glass bottles on the track.

"We are kind of caught in the middle, because it reflects on us if something happens, even if it's outside the circuit."

Mrs White said citing safety issues was a "smokescreen" by the council and V8 organisers. "They're just annoyed that we got a free view, it's as simple as that."

The infringement notice cited a clause of the Building Act that refers to using or permitting the "use of a building for a use for which it is not safe".