In March 2023, Agri-Fencing Taranaki was asked to look at a boundary fence for the Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Pi’ipi’inga Kakano Mai I Rangiatea in New Plymouth. After meeting with the property portfolio manager on the school board, we had a look at the boundary section of the fence.
The design brief was a bit different from our usual projects, that’s for sure! It had to be 1.8m high for the first section of the fence line, then the height could be dropped down to 1.5m. The height had to deter kids from ages 3 up to 12 from climbing or pushing through. It also had to stop tennis balls and such from running down the hill into the neighbouring property. There was an existing chain-link fence along the playing field, which we initially thought could be continued, but we agreed it would give the fence line a bit of an industrial look, so we went for something with cleaner lines. This was certainly a bit different from our usual requests around stock management!
After exploring some options on a few fence designs, we came up with the idea of using equine netting at 1.5m height and using plain 2.5mm HT wire at 100mm spacings to achieve the requested 1.8m height for the first part of the fence line.
Our fence proposal was accepted by the board, then it was a matter of scheduling the work over the school holidays, which at that point were just over a week away… challenge accepted! We scheduled a utilities detection service to make sure the fence line was clear of any underground services, then commenced with some ground prep and building of a small retaining wall to level the fence line and prevent dips. Another challenge included an undulating pump track which made for some interesting tractor balancing.
The result with the use of equine netting and plain wires provided a very tidy, robust fence, safe enough to keep the kids in. This was an enjoyable job and something different, with a good sense of achievement being able to contribute to keeping our tamariki safe at school.
Article written by Jeff Rawson
Published in the Pools & Schools Feature in WIRED Issue 72 / MARCH 2024 by Fencing Contractors Association NZ
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