A FURIOUS teacher claims his wife is forced to sleep in a gas mask every night because his neighbour constantly uses his coal fire.
Brian Cohen from Westport, New Zealand, says he threatened to "smash his neighbour's head in" after he refused to stop burning coal.
Kiwi Brian and his Ukrainian-born engineer wife Svetlana moved to Westport on New Zealand's South Island, 133 miles from Christchurch in November last year from their previous home in Invercargill.
They began living in a caravan on the plot of land where they plan to build their home on the country's stunning west coast.
But their dream turned into a nightmare late last month when their neighbour started burning coal.
He told Stuff.co.nz: "My wife has a bad reaction to that, she gets shortness of breath, coughs, headaches and chest pains.
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"We texted our neighbour to say we didn't want to cause an issue but asked if he could stop burning coal, but he's decided he's not going to stop, so we have this situation where my wife has to sleep in a gas mask every time he lights the fire and there's a westerly wind.
"I was really upset, I actually threatened to go over and smash his head in because it's made me really angry."
Brian said after threatening his neighbour, he was visited by a police officer who gave him a warning.
Svetlana compared their town to "a gas chamber," adding: "Every night I need to wear a gas mask because I can't sleep, I can't breathe.
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"I cough, I have headaches, throat irritation. It's horrible. I'm not living my life now."
Brian says he has been to his local authorities, Buller District Council, but was told that there was nothing they could do.
According to the latest figures, some 34.3 per cent of homes on the West Coast of New Zealand heat their homes using cheaper coal, compared to just 1.3 per cent nationwide.
New Zealand's Ministry of the Environment says that burning coal and wood is one of the two main causes of air pollution in the country along with traffic emissions.
"We came to the coast because it's a beautiful place – beautiful greenery, beautiful environment – but we've got people burning coal here and the councils are doing nothing about it," Brian fumed.
"In other parts of New Zealand people aren't allowed to burn coal because they know it's wrong, it's bad for your health. It's just so frustrating."
I was really upset, I actually threatened to go over and smash his head in because it's made me really angry
A trailer load of coal on the West Coast costs around $115 New Zealand (£59), and two loads will heat the typical home for a whole winter – far cheaper than electricity-powered central heating.
Brian says although some people in his community have offered their support, others have been less sympathetic.
Westport is central to New Zealand's coal mining industry, which is still dominant in the region.
Some of the Cohen's neighbours have even laughed and told them they should have done their research before moving to Westport, suggesting they go back where they came from.
Buller mayor Jamie Cleine told Stuff.co.nz he sympathised with the Cohen's but had not received any similar complaints.
"I would be loath to see any options taken off people's right to heat their homes," he said. "I don't see home heating, be that coal or wood, being high on the pecking order in terms of impact on climate change."
The Sun Online has contacted Buller District Council for comment.
In another recent neighbourly dispute, an Aussie dad spent £50k stopping his neighbour from building a 2m high decking level with his garden fence.
David Boettiger from Sydney claims he wasn't told about his neighbour Wassim Rahman's drastic redesign plans until demolition started next door.
When he woke up to the sounds of heavy construction in August 2020, he didn't know it would be the start of a two-year legal battle.
After seeing his neighbour's plans, David was horrified to discover they including knocking the whole house down and rebuilding it complete with a pool deck high enough to see into his garden.
And in another bizarre housing dispute, a TikToker claimed her neighbour demanded £250 a day in compensation while they built their extension.
When one user commented about how "petty" that was, TikToker @surreyonthemove who posted the video responded: "This wasn’t even the most petty thing they did.
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"They called the fire services unnecessarily claiming that they could get acid burns."
The user added: "There was no legal ground or basis for their claim but they were trying their luck."
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