Ask any concrete contractor what the worst phone call is, and most will give you the same answer: “the neighbour reckons it’s over the line.” I’ve spent years pouring driveways and slabs around Dunedin, and that sentence still comes up more than any question about mix ratios or curing times. It’s not just a local…

A fellow out in Hokowhitu emailed me last spring, pretty rattled. He’d built a tidy little deck and a sleeper retaining wall along the back of his Palmerston North section, and a neighbour had mentioned he “probably needed a consent for that.” Cue a weekend of panic. I’m Grant Ellison, and I’ve spent the last…

A neighbour of mine in Miramar pulled down an old carport last summer, poured a slab, and put up a tidy sleepout for the grandkids to stay in when they visit. Six months later he tried to sell the house and the whole thing surfaced in the LIM report as unconsented work. The sale nearly…