Bid to stop move explored

The Wanganui District Council is seeking a legal opinion on the status of an application for resource consent to move a house on to Whanganui Prison grounds for recidivist sex offender Stewart Wilson.

Councillor Ray Stevens said the council was looking at legal ways to block the consent, or halt the process, but was unable to go into further detail.

Corrections plans to house Mr Wilson - dubbed "the Beast of Blenheim" for his sex crimes against women, children and animals - in a Housing New Zealand house on prison land between the self-care units and the prison fence.

He has served 18 years of a 21-year sentence and cannot be kept in prison any longer, but is still considered to be at high risk of reoffending.

Mr Stevens said he had been inundated with messages from unhappy members of the public since the news that Mr Wilson would be released to live near Wanganui.

Mr Stevens said since posting an open invitation to a "Banish the Beast" meeting in Wanganui this weekend on his Facebook page, he's already had around 200 people confirm their attendance.

With enough community support, he believed there was a chance to stop Mr Wilson being brought to Wanganui, and the council needed to show leadership on such an important matter, he said.

Maternity services moving to Palmerston North were a "done deal" and Wanganui managed to fight that successfully, he said.

The agenda for Sunday's meeting had yet to be set, but Mr Stevens said it would not be a "hysterical witch-hunt".

"It's going to be structured with real feedback that can go into a strategy so council can provide a united front going forward."