NEWMARKET MAN INSTALLS FOUR-CAMERA CCTV SYSTEM TO WATCH LETTERBOX, NOTHING ELSE
The driveway, the front door, and the garage remain entirely unsurveilled. The letterbox has 1080p coverage from three angles.
A Newmarket homeowner has installed a four-camera CCTV setup pointed exclusively at his letterbox. The rest of his property near the Remuera Road end has no coverage at all.
Derek Pannett, 58, said the system had been a long time coming. "Someone's been taking the Pak'nSave mailer. Not the Bunnings one. Not the real estate flyers. Just the Pak'nSave. Three weeks running. You tell me that's not targeted."
The cameras feed to a monitor in Pannett's kitchen, which he checks during ad breaks. Two are mounted on the fence. One sits on a timber pole. The fourth is inside a hollow garden gnome facing the slot. He confirmed he had not reviewed any footage of the back door or the side gate, because "nothing happens there".
Next-door neighbour Yvette Carslaw said she'd noticed the install over the long weekend. "He was up the ladder for two days. I asked if everything was alright. He said the letterbox situation had 'escalated'. I didn't ask what the situation was. I regret that now."
An Auckland Council spokesperson said private CCTV was fine provided it did not film the footpath, and noted the letterbox was "council-adjacent but not council-owned". The Newmarket police station said no complaint had been filed about the missing mailers, and the matter was "a Pak'nSave issue at best".
Pannett has since ordered a fifth camera. It will also point at the letterbox.
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Reader Letters
Bruce_Newmarket
Well, I reckon Derek's onto something here. If someone swiped my Pak'nSave mailer, I'd be right pissed off too! Those specials are gold!
CouncilWatcher
@Bruce_Newmarket Mate, this isn't about specials. It's about Newmarket turning into a CCTV nightmare. Next they'll want permissions for street cameras!
Margaret_F
Reminds me of when someone kept taking my Sunday Star-Times. My husband accused the neighbour but she was in Fiji at the time. Anyway, I don't miss it, it's just page after page of nonsense these days.
Comment_Knight
@Margaret_F Yeah, and remember when page three had the crosswords, and not another ad for those bloody electric scooters? Absolute piss-take!
Ryan_Conspiracy
BEFORE LONG, WE'LL ALL HAVE CAMERAS ON EVERYTHING BECAUSE THE COUNCIL IS SELLING OUR DATA TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER. IT'S ALL CONNECTED MATES.
YvetteC_neighbour
Honestly, it's made me nervous to pick up my own mail. I might end up in some letterbox surveillance footage alternative reality. Just want to sneak those bills in peace.