A Mosgiel resident falsely accused of dobbing in about 20 nearby properties for illegal structures says the ongoing squabble has affected his relationships with neighbours.
Frustrated residents of the Highland Park subdivision have been removing structures such as sheds and pergolas which the Dunedin City Council has deemed non-compliant.
Neighbourly disputes in the area about the sheds go back years.
Most recently, a resident in the area laid a complaint about more than 20 neighbours in the area, most of whom were required to remove structures, the council said.
Resident Mark Wilkinson said he "saw red" when some stories on the subject seemed to imply he was the person who filed the litany of complaints.
This was because he admitted sending a "query" to the council about his neighbour's pergola, which the council followed up as a complaint, Mr Wilkinson said.
The Otago Daily Times has had confirmation he was not the person who made the complaints.
"It has affected my life. Previously, neighbours and I, we'd all wave to each other, and then all of a sudden this comes out ...
"I just want to move on."
He felt "genuinely sorry" for all the people in the neighbourhood who had to remove non-complaint structures, he said.
He thought he was implicated as last week council community services general manager Simon Pickford said a neighbour in the area complained about a structure on their border and staff went to the property and found many non-compliances.
Following council policy, staff then checked the property of the person who laid the complaint and found at least one non-compliant structure, he said.
"And when we did that that's when we got a list of 20-plus properties, which he was, in his words, `helpfully supplying'."
They seemed to be accompanied by pictures taken from a drone, he said.
Last month, Mr Wilkinson's neighbour, Richard Anderson, appeared on Fair Go, frustrated by the way the council was dealing with the situation.
He also did not know who made the complaints, he said.
"This has just gone on for so long and we're really sick of it."
