LOCALS STUNNED: TAURANGA BUILDERS TURN DEMOLITION ARTISTS

Bethlehem’s builders are busier wielding sledgehammers than saws these days, as the Tauranga housing market takes a new turn for chaos. No longer masters of the quick build, they've become maestros of the tear down, as a strange new phenomenon of dismantling houses sweeps the Morrisons and the McKays like a great gale off the Mount.

Graham, a seasoned local chippie, held forth from his high perch on a half-gutted deck, 'Mate, we're spending more time knocking 'em down than putting 'em up. Builders have become the best-paid wrecking crew in Tauranga. Give me a hammer and a flat white, and I'm in my zone.' A rare pause to take a sip, then, 'Cheaper to undo a home than to front the cash for a new one, reckon.'

With lockdown restrictions and the housing boom, Tauranga's neighbours have been left with what can only be described as architectural indigestion. Properties are disappearing faster than the last pie at smoko. Any finished work can expect an artistic deconstruction sooner or later. Tradies simply shrug at the absurdity, tossing out plans like wind-tossed pamphlets in Cathedral Square.

Even the retired crowd, usually blissed out on their sunshine surplus, have been grumbling louder than a two-dollar drill bit when they hear the clattering of nailed timber. While the Port of Tauranga remains steadfast, Bethlehem's landscape toughens, a scramble of tools and debris set against mauve sunsets and salty sea breezes.