The owner of a derelict Taranaki hotel says her plans to restore the property to its former glory are being scuppered by the constant noise and vibration of heavy vehicles passing her front door.
Victoria Ginn, an internationally recognised photographer, bought the Commercial Hotel believing it to be located on a quiet back street in Normanby, a few kilometres north of Hawera. But, she told RNZ, about 140 heavy trucks roll past each day.
Ginn, who used to live in Wellington, left her Fiji home to redevelop the two-story Commercial Hotel a year ago, hoping to transform it into a hybrid hotel and gallery space.
"It was neglected, rain falling through the roof and everything," she told RNZ's Robin Martin. "It was the heart of the local community but like a lot of these small towns now the hotels have fallen into disuse and there is no community centre for people to go to."
The hotel sits at the junction of two roads used by heavy transport in South Taranaki.
