Crow s nest no more

A sailor’s crow’s nest is a viewing platform according to Tauranga City Council, and its ordered Simon Zeigler’s crow’s nest removed from the roof of his Ngatai Road home.
The crow’s nest, the nautical term for the masthead lookout, has no land bound equivalent – which is Simon’s undoing.

Even though he put a mast on it, and nautically decorated it with a coiled line and an anchor, Council senior building officer Brian Swale declared it a viewing platform, built without a permit.
In a letter, he threatened Simon with a $200,000 fine if he didn’t take it down.
“It’s something that cost $300 in materials,” says Simon. “I think it’s just stand over tactics. You can’t put a swing in a tree without somebody complaining.”
A builder and sailor as well as poet and musician, Simon says he used the crow’s nest to check the sea state in the entrance, before heading out.
The driftwood log was a find that may find its way into other marine sculptures upon its release from crow’s nest duties.
Access was by ladder, says Simon. Children couldn’t get to it.