Carterton residents’ concerns about a range of illicit activity happening in their backyard have been heightened after two vehicles were scorched to a crisp in the town in the past two weeks.
Both blazes happened at the car park of Howard Booth Park, which is home to the local football and squash clubs and is in close proximity to residents and the Carterton Holiday Park.
A Belvedere Rd resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he woke up at about 3.30am on Sunday morning to “an explosion”.
“I had woken up earlier, yet again to the noise of burnouts in the car park,” he said.
“Eventually I hopped back into bed, and 15 minutes later woke to a loud noise so went outside to see what it was.”
The resident and his partner were greeted by the sight of a car engulfed in flames.
Less than two weeks prior, in the early hours of Labour Weekend Monday, the resident had found the charred skeleton of a car that had been torched in the same car park.
The resident said this occasion, he walked outside in the early hours of the morning to find the remains of the car, and his fence still smouldering.
“We didn’t hear a dang thing because we’re at the very front of the house,” they said.
“When I woke up, I yelled out to my partner, ‘Oh my god, the fence is gone, a car’s been burnt out’, and part of our fence was still burning.”
Disconcerted by the two blazes within two weeks, the resident said he wants access blocked to the site in the evenings.
“As it is, my partner’s worried about what might happen next weekend – they are really unsettled by it,” he said.
“It’s not just those two instances – there have been fights, vandalism in the soccer fields from cars and motorcycles, burnouts, and lots of drug deals happen there.”
Carterton Brigade chief fire officer Bryan Styles confirmed that the brigade had not been notified about the Labour Weekend fire but had responded to the car conflagration this past weekend early on Sunday morning.
“There are a number of hazards with vehicle fires, from the rubber on the tyres to the material in the car,” Styles said.
“It’s not nice to be around, we use our breathing apparatus when putting them out.”
There are a number of unknowns when tending to a vehicle that’s been set alight, and Styles said this means crews have to approach the fire more cautiously.
“You don’t know how much fuel is in the car. The fuel tank has the potential to explode in a worse scenario, and when you get there you don’t know what’s in it or what other materials are in the car that are burning.”
Carterton Holiday Park owner Sharrie Gibbons said the second fire has her worried about her fence, and guests’ safety.
“It was right up against our fence, and we have a unit behind there,” she said.
“The person in there didn’t know whether to evacuate or what to do, they were quite frightened.”
Like the Belvedere Rd resident, Gibbons wants to see the area closed at night to prevent further incidents from occurring.
Carterton mayor Ron Mark said the repeated fires and nighttime disturbances are “extremely annoying and disappointing”.
But when it comes to looking at closing off the area, Mark said there are other considerations.
“We can’t do something like that without talking to the other leaseholders,” Mark said.
“I’m not saying it couldn’t be done, but you’d have to ensure the people who administer and use the football club and squash club have access.”
Despondent at the thought of the situation coming to that, Mark said it “is the kind of nonsense Carterton could do without”.
“People go to and from that car park all the time, always. We’ve never had this sort of problem,” Mark said.
“It’s sad that a group of miscreants, through their actions, cause normal law-abiding citizens to lose their rights and their freedom to move about and utilise facilities in the way they always have.”
Police said they only have reports on file regarding the first vehicle that had been found already burnt out and the resident’s fence that was damaged on Monday, October 23.
“The vehicle was signalled to stop earlier in the evening and failed to do so and was not pursued by police,” a police spokesperson said.
“It was allegedly stolen from a takeaway restaurant on High Street South, Carterton, the night before.”
The spokesperson said there are ongoing enquiries to establish the identities of the occupants and locate those involved.
A Carterton District Council [CDC] spokesperson said they were relieved that no one had been injured and that the damage was not as extensive as it could have been.
“We pass on our thanks to our local fire brigade for their swift intervention.”
Community members have voiced concerns to CDC about the anti-social behaviour taking place at the Howard Booth Park car park, and the spokesperson said the council is open to discussing how to make the space safer.
At this stage, however, there are no plans to lock the car park at night.
