Steventon said he\u2019d only recently bought the ute, which he had saved for over a long period and was not yet insured. He was also out of pocket $500 for towing.<\/p>\n
However, he knew he was lucky to have walked away unscathed and said police later told him his vehicle had withstood the collision better than others in similar crashes.<\/p>\n
An officer dragged the dead animal off the road, and council staff removed it a few hours later. <\/p>\n
A resident stayed with Steventon, helped direct traffic and waited with him for the tow truck. <\/p>\n
Steventon, who has lived at Whang\u0101rei Heads for six months, said he was unaware roaming cattle were a known hazard in the area. <\/p>\n
He had noticed a wandering stock sign on the city side of the settlement but had never seen roaming cattle in the area. <\/p>\n
Later that morning he realised the hazard was well known when he saw a social media post from a woman who had been travelling ahead of him on the same stretch of road and had narrowly avoided hitting one of the cattle. <\/p>\n
By lunchtime, hundreds of comments had appeared under her post, with locals sharing stories of near misses and collisions and expressing frustration that authorities had not resolved the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t want it happening to anyone else,\u201d Steventon said. \u201cIt\u2019s an accident waiting to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concerns about roaming wild cattle on Whang\u0101rei Heads Rd were raised with the Northern Advocate in mid\u2011June 2024 by Waikaraka resident Peter Scott, who lives at Tayden Court. <\/p>\n
Scott said mobs of feral cattle had been roaming bush, M\u0101ori land and residential properties in the area for more than a decade<\/a>, sometimes charging at residents and frequently straying onto the busy coastal road at night. <\/p>\n He warned it was only a matter of time before someone was seriously injured or killed.<\/p>\n Whang\u0101rei District Council (WDC) and Northland Regional Council said the issue fell outside their jurisdiction, citing the cattle\u2019s wild status, unclear ownership and complex land tenure.<\/p>\n WDC put up Wandering Stock signs in the area.<\/p>\n Residents were told the problem was effectively a community one, to be addressed through fencing, signs or consensus on culling.<\/p>\n The stalemate has coincided with further incidents<\/a>, including a December 2024 crash in which Whang\u0101rei man Troy Johnson narrowly avoided serious injury after hitting a large wild cow on the same stretch of road<\/a> in the early hours.<\/p>\n Johnson said he, too, feared a fatality was inevitable if meaningful action was not taken.<\/p>\nResidents of Whang\u0101rei’s harbourside community of Waikaraka and drivers involved in near misses and collisions with roaming wild cattle there, believe a fatal crash involving the stock is inevitable. Photo \/ Sarah Curtis <\/p>\n