Motorists frustrate farmer

Murray Hagan examines a metal frame left in his paddock after a car smashed through the fence....
Murray Hagan examines a metal frame left in his paddock after a car smashed through the fence. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.
Karitane farmer Murray Hagan is fed up with people crashing into his fence.

"It's happened dozens of times."

Mr Hagan, whose farmland borders Coast Rd, just south of Karitane, said he had only just fixed the roadside deer fence after the previous crash - repairs cost $1500 - when someone crashed into it again on Thursday night.

The crash dropped about 70m of fencing wire to the ground and snapped off a fence post.

Two of the deer that were in the paddock escaped and were still missing.

It appeared the occupants of the crashed vehicle had used wire cutters to cut the vehicle free of the fence and, after driving across paddocks to get out, unscrewed a hinge from a padlocked gate, lifted the gate off to get back on the road and then replaced the gate and the hinge after them.

"You get a bit sick of it, especially when people like this just bugger off."

The paddock was on the north side of a sharp bend. While a barrier on the coast side of the road might help, the main problem was people driving to fast around the bend, Mr Hagan said.

Police are investigating.

- debbie.porteous@odt.co.nz

 

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