PUKEKOHE

[Shano]

I know this is not about motor racing but it is the same issue - people buying property near something that is inherently noisy and then complaining about it.

Some years ago in another life I worked for the New Zealand Dairy Group and for my sins part of my job was dealing with the media.

At Waitoa there was a huge dairy factory. The houses that immediately surrounded the factory had been built years ago by the company so there was somewhere for workers to live. As the population throughout the region grew, things changed and the company sold off most of the houses.

They were cheap then, and they still are, because there is a sodding great factory next door and it operates 24/7. Trucks come and go, so do other vehicles. They are noisy too.

But inevitably there have been complaints about noise and light at night. Not initially because people back then knew the score and that living next door to a big dairy factory would be noisy.

One complaint that fell on my desk involved Fair Go - the reporter contacted me and put the complainant's side of the story. I pointed out that the Waitoa dairy factory was one of the oldest in the world and had been a major production facility for decades and decades. Responsible for the town being there in the first place.

"Why would anyone want to buy a house next door to it and then complain about the noise?" I asked, pointing out that anyone who put a little bit of thought into it would realise that noise levels would be high and the factory was not going to vanish any time soon, if ever.

The Fair Go reporter saw sense and that was the last we heard of them - although I suspect the problem will be on-going. Someone looking to buy a cheap home will snap up a bargain in Waitoa and the first night they try to get some sleep the reality will hit hard.