Stoke car break ins

FROM PAGE 1 the week’s pay.”

When she called the police she was told they wouldn’t attend something like that, but at around 10am an officer called her, arranging to come and fingerprint the vehicle.

“My partner noticed six other cars had similar damage on the street, so I asked the policewoman if it was because of that and she said it was.”

“It was really weird that they said they wouldn’t attend “that kind of thing”,” Gemma says. A police spokesperson confirmed four youths were arrested following the spate of break-ins in Stoke.

Two of the youths have been referred to Youth Services. By Monday, the other two had appeared in the Nelson Youth Court on charges relating to theft from vehicles.

“We would like to take this opportunity to remind the public to be extra vigilant around securing your vehicle, ensuring all valuables are removed,” the spokesperson says.

“If you are parking on the road, please consider investing in a wheel lock. It is a cheap but effective way of helping to prevent your car being stolen.”

Another Songer St resident, who asked not to be named, said they weren’t aware their car had been broken into until police contacted them.

“Police have been fantastic, nothing gone from our car, police have been super helpful and supportive.”

Nothing was taken from the vehicle.

Gemma says Smith and Smith glass were excellent and got her vehicle in straight away to install a temporary fix for the window..

She says nobody heard anything during the break-in, but her property has cameras installed, which police had access to.

“I work in a salon, and I’ve heard that a similar thing happened on Muritai St the week before.”

Gemma says she has started to wonder what’s next for Nelson.

“You hear of young kids stealing cars and driving into shops and I start to wonder is that what’s going to start happening in Nelson?”

One of the cars that was broken into on Songer Street last week. All of the cars had similar damage to the back window. Photo: Supplied.

KATE RUSSELL

Kāinga Ora spent $7m on maintenance of their properties in Nelson and Tasman last year with almost $25k charged to tenants for damage - although only $7k was paid back.

A total of $7,207,422 was spent on responsive repairs, vacant property repairs, routine maintenance, and planned maintenance programmes (including Healthy Homes) for the financial year ending 30 June 2022.

This included $5,192,911 in Nelson and $2,014,511 in Tasman. The figures were provided to Nelson Weekly by the state housing agency under the Official Information Act.

When it comes to property damage done by tenants, Kāinga Ora does not centrally record information about ‘who’ is liable for damages to its properties, a spokesperson said.

Last year there was $24,906 ($20,679 in Nelson and $4,227 in Tasman) charged to tenants for damage, but only $7,120

($3,570 in Nelson and $3,550 in Tasman) has been paid back. This amount also includes payments made against charges for previous years.

The spokesperson said that identifying liability for damage is “not always straightforward”.

Under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, a tenant is liable for damage if the damage was intentional or careless, rather than accidental.

“In practice, it is not always easy to determine whether the damage is accidental or due to carelessness.”

Under Kāinga Ora’s well-being approach to tenancy services, there are some situations where it may not be appropriate to pass the cost of damages to the tenant.

“For example, the provision of skip bins for community clean-ups to maintain health and safety, or where there are social issues like family violence or other severe stresses within the household.”

Kāinga Ora currently has 710 public homes and supported homes in Nelson City and 47 of these are vacant. In Tasman, they have 170 homes with nine of those being vacant.

“Kāinga Ora often has properties that are vacant between the end of one ten- ancy and the start of another. During this time, we undertake any maintenance that needs to be done in preparation for a new customer moving in,” the spokesperson said.

“Some properties are also vacant because they are due to undergo major repairs or upgrades as part of our retrofit programme. However, we aim to get homes re-occupied as quickly as possible whenever we carry out this work.”

Some vacant homes are older and no longer fit for purpose.

“We are planning to redevelop the sites they are on and replace them with more warm, dry homes for people in need.”