While other residents did not report hearing the shot, Daniel Williamson said the incident raised concern in the wake of alleged threats from another villager.<\/p>\n
Williamson alleged that emails from another resident threatened to shoot any wandering cats. <\/p>\n
Williamson said he now believes they are related to the gunshot heard around Ruby\u2019s disappearance, and the resident\u2019s threats were reported to the Body Corporate.<\/p>\n
Ruby\u2019s disappearance was also reported to the SPCA the following day and shared with the community through social media. <\/p>\n
Inspector Marty Gray, Otago Coastal Area Commander, said police were currently investigating alleged offences in the Waipori Falls area, but were unable to comment further on these at this stage.<\/p>\n
The gunshot comes amid broader tensions in the village.<\/p>\n
In September last year, residents reported being stopped along the narrow gorge section of Waipori Falls Rd and told they were no longer welcome in the village.<\/p>\n
Earlier in October, a pig carcass was displayed on a stick near a local property in what some residents interpreted as intimidation linked to hunting activities. <\/p>\n
Residents said the discovery of the carcass was an inappropriate, intimidating, and distressing act. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Police later determined the pig had been euthanised after being injured by a dog, and no further action was required.<\/p>\n
Conflict has also arisen over the body corporate\u2019s levy reassessment. <\/p>\n
A resolution to reassess levies prompted a scheduled survey of 33 properties in late November. <\/p>\n
Some villagers, however, have vowed to block surveyors from entering their properties, a dispute described by one resident who asked not to be named as \u201cpotentially violent\u201d and reflective of growing intimidation in the community.<\/p>\n
Body corporate chairperson Pam Murray confirmed that the unit entitlement reassessment site visits had been completed, and the reassessment was approved by owners at the May 2025 annual general meeting and is a routine administrative process carried out in accordance with the Unit Titles Act 2010. <\/p>\n
Waipori Falls is a small, remote village located about 60km from Dunedin, with around 28 permanent residents. Photo \/ Google Maps<\/p>\n
She said its purpose is to ensure fairness, accuracy and transparency across the development as it exists today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis reassessment is particularly important for residents because the current levy structure has not been updated since the early 1990s, when the body corporate was first established,\u201c she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, there is currently a very large disparity between contributions. The reassessment provides a modern, evidence-based foundation for owners to consider whether the levy structure remains fair and proportionate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are grateful to the majority of owners who cooperated and provided access. A small number of owners chose not to participate at this stage, and any outstanding matters will now be managed through the standard statutory pathways available under the act. The focus remains on ensuring the process is lawful, orderly and respectful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the site visits, there was one isolated incident involving verbal abuse directed toward the chairperson and the assessors. This matter has been formally recorded and will be addressed through the appropriate channels. Apart from that single interaction, engagement with residents was orderly and courteous.\u201d<\/p>\n
In relation to wider concerns raised, she said the body corporate was not an enforcement or regulatory agency and does not have authority over private disputes between individuals. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to encourage respectful conduct and good neighbourly communication.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor clarity, the committee has received no reports of gunshots or firearms-related incidents within the village. The recent pig carcass matter raised by some residents was not gun-related and did not involve firearms.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that with regard to police matters, any contact with police generally occurred at an individual level rather than through the body corporate, and we do not comment on private interactions between residents and law enforcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, Waipori Falls Village remains a small and close-knit community. Differences of opinion are not unusual in shared property environments, but the reassessment process itself has been completed calmly and professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe committee is now focused on receiving the valuer\u2019s report, sharing a summary with owners in early 2026, and ensuring that any next steps remain transparent, lawful and driven by owner decision-making\u201d<\/p>\n
MP Ingrid Leary, who has engaged with residents on local policing matters, said the issues reflect long-standing challenges in policing remote communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past five years, the community has worked through a range of infrastructure and water supply challenges. I continue to refer residents\u2019 concerns to police when appropriate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Residents say fear of harassment has become routine. <\/p>\n
An anonymous resident told the Herald they now wear a video recording device when in the village after repeated intimidation, noting that Daniel and Kate Williamson have also been targeted. <\/p>\n
The resident added that the shooting incident has \u201cgenerated some police activity, but not at a level you would have expected, given a firearm was discharged within the precincts of the town.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gray said police continue to urge firearm owners in the area to exercise strict safety precautions, including treating all firearms as loaded and storing them securely.<\/p>\n
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While other residents did not report hearing the shot, Daniel Williamson said the incident raised concern in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[74,95,138,1259,9770,6846,11746,15248,2893,2082,74013,305,88503,101,6501,111,139,69,9629,31252,530,6302,76334,4499,23534,103852],"class_list":["post-157010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-after","tag-and","tag-business","tag-community","tag-disappearance","tag-disputes","tag-edge","tag-falls","tag-fear","tag-for","tag-gunshot","tag-have","tag-kitten","tag-left","tag-missing","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-otago","tag-pets","tag-residents","tag-safety","tag-simmering","tag-small","tag-village","tag-waipori"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}