The Invercargill City Council is taking legal action to have fortifications around gang houses removed, and it plans to outlaw gang headquarters within the town boundaries.
Tensions between the Mongrel Mob and Road Knights escalated in the city in June, culminating in a gang house being burned down.
The council and police are submitting a joint application to the courts to remove fortifications surrounding two gang houses - the Mongrel Mob headquarters in Severn Street and a Road Knights' house in Balmoral Drive.
Council chief executive Richard King says crime is being carried out behind the walls, and if the fortifications are removed it makes the gang as vulnerable as anyone else.
Mr King says the council's planning and regulatory committee will meet this week to discuss the application to pull down the walls.
The council is also changing its district plan to outlaw gang headquarters in the city.
