Investigations into complaints about a scrap metal yard, where a ferocious fire broke out in Christchurch, have not revealed any breaches of regulations, the city council says.
Fire doused at National Steel scrap metal yard in Woolston, Christchurch on 18 August 2022. Photo: RNZ / Jean Edwards
Neighbours have likened Wednesday night's blaze at National Steel in Woolston to a nuclear explosion that sent up a huge plume of potentially toxic smoke, forcing some from their homes.
They told RNZ concerns which had been raised with the council since 2018 had amounted to nothing, but staff said the council had programmed a district plan review of industrial and residential zoning this year.
Phil Campbell said his wife and two children went to stay with relatives for the night because of the thick, acrid smoke billowing over Marshall Street.
He had raised concerns about the yard with the city and regional councils and former MP Ruth Dyson to no avail, he said.
"It was quite clear quite early on that they weren't going to do anything, or couldn't. It's all within the district plan and zoning," he said.
"This is residential, and on that side of the street it's light industrial. There didn't seem to be any movement or any desire to alter the zoning."
Christchurch City Council said it had received 14 complaints, mostly about the noise, but investigations did not identify any regulatory breaches.
Head of planning and consents John Higgins said the council had already planned to review the adequacy of district plan provisions.
"The council is aware of concerns about the interface between industrial and residential properties and has programmed a review of the issue this financial year," he said.
Campbell said he hoped the fire meant National Steel would eventually relocate from Garlands Road.
"They leased the land, got the digger there and started crushing cars. The people on the street are pretty dissatisfied. Maybe we could be thinking a little more deeply about how land in Christchurch is used," he said.
Firefighters spent the day dousing a smouldering pile of more than 500 crushed cars and warned it could take days to put the fire out.
Neighbour Mark Lange said he was stunned by the intensity of the inferno.
"It looked like nuclear explosion, it just kept going and going," he said.
"It was a big, red mushroom cloud, probably 100-feet high and you could see missiles shooting out of it. There were gas tanks and magnesium tyres."
Other neighbours had complained about the unusually large pile of cars in the yard, which may be the result of global shipping delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Lange said.
"I think that's part of why there were so many there, you wait for the price to go up - that's the risk you take, but you could have burnt down an entire neighbourhood," he said.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand said 18 trucks and more than 50 firefighters battled the blaze at its peak.
Investigators will examine the cause of the fire.
Te Mana Ora issued a public health warning urging people to stay inside with their windows and doors shut because of the smoke.
National Steel did not respond to RNZ's request for comment.