Sunday, August 23, 2015

Neighbours unhappy with man who is building a three-storey cruiseliner in his backyard

The neighbours of a man in Christchurch, New Zealand, who is building a three-storey cruiseliner in his backyard have been told there's nothing they can do to make him stop. The Christchurch City Council says anyone can build a boat in their backyard, but the neighbours say this one's far too big.



It's not what you would expect to see among the houses in the middle of Christchurch. An eight-bedroom, four-bathroom cruiseliner under construction and tucked in a backyard. But neighbours like Ian Liversidge wonder if it's seaworthy. "If you put that to sea it wouldn't float, would it? So it's not a boat." Mr Liversidge says it's imposing, even intrusive structure, is the main reason they want it gone.





"Having a property like that in a residential area, obviously there's no concern for other residents or anything." They don't believe it'll ever see the water and say that calling it a boat is just a way to get around city council regulations. Steve Cunard, the man who's building the boat, says he is a qualified boat builder and this has been one of his weekend hobbies.



He plans to finish it within the next year, when he will crane it off his property and move it to its new home in the Bay of Islands. A council spokesperson says anyone can legally build a boat in their backyard, but the owner should hurry up. "We do sympathise with the community there, and Mr Cunard needs to do the right thing and get it on to water as soon as possible."

With news video.

7 comments:

WilliamRocket said...

I reckon the council spokesperson needs to be very afraid for his job, saying "...but the owner should hurry up. We do sympathise with the community there, and Mr Cunard needs to do the right thing and get it on to water as soon as possible" is a bit of rubbish, isn't it, they say he is allowed to build a boat in his yard, end of story, because he is allowed to build a boat in his yard. Saying he should do the right thing implies that he is doing the wrong thing, if he is doing the right thing why the f**k should he hurry up ?
** stands for uc.

Anonymous said...

Cunard? So he's no White Star

Anonymous said...

I'd laugh if he was building a boat along the lines of the one featured in _The Prisoner_.

Be seein' you.

Lurker111

Anonymous said...

ANONYM0US POST,
LOOK I HAVE READ ALOT ABOUT THIS PERSON STEVE CUNARD,HE IS A WELL KNOW BOATBUILDER HERE IN NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA.HIS BOATS ARE WELL SORT AFTER.THE PEOPLE OFF CHRISTCHURCH DONT KNOW HOW LUCKY THEY ARE TO HAVE A PERSON OFF HIS ABILITY.HE SHOULD BE GIVING A KNIGHT HOOD NOT A HARD TIME FOR BUILDING BIG BOATS.

Anonymous said...

Good on you Mr Cunard
Im behind you 100% and I have seen your boats on the Sydney Harbour when I was on holiday over there,last year.You are truly a world class Boatbuilder/Shipwright.

DONALD

Unknown said...

EXCELLENT BOATBUILDER

Unknown said...

Every one gives Mr Cunard a hard time but in AUSTRALIA he is a well known famous Boatbuilder.
Simon