Last chance or we'll prosecute, quake risk building owners warned

New $150,000 Heritage Fund established to help with costs

The owners of 32 earthquake risk buildings will this week get letters telling them they have 10 working days to begin strengthening them, or face drastic action.

If they fail to act, Hutt City Council's options include pressing  criminal charges, boarding up the buildings and/or moving contractors in to start remedial work, with council taking over part-ownership of the property.

The council declined to release the list of unsafe buildings to the Hutt News, saying it is commercially sensitive.  

HCC development services manager Kim Kelly told a council committee last Wednesday the letters are the last legal step in  numerous warnings and reminders to the owners issued under the Building Act 2004.

"We've been going at these people for years; I don't think they believe us."

Council has to act because "we have some liability if (the buildings) fall on people (in an earthquake)," Ms Kelly said.

The warning letter is really about waking owners up to the fact that council is serious about the issue.  Most of the earthquake-risk buildings are in Petone and 24 them have heritage value.  Ms Kelly said if the owners front up and agree to achieve a building consent "by a certain date, a resource consent by 'x', and so on, I guess that will offer us some legal cover".

Cases where owners fail to respond would be put in the hands of lawyers.

There are another 12 earthquake risk buildings in the city that are required to be strengthened by December 2014.

A separate register lists as many as 150 'earthquake prone' buildings in the city that are due for strengthening by June 2018.  This list includes the council's own main administration centre.  Four years ago the council spent $5 million quake-strengthening the War Memorial Library.  It is budgeting some $15 million as part of its Long Term Council Community Plan to do the same with the heritage listed Laings Rd council admin block.

Cr Roger Styles pointed out that strengthening deadlines had been "rolled over" in the past.  He asked if they could be extended further.

Kim Kelly: "We have rolled a number of these over a number of times.  I guess we're trying to roll them over (again) but with some definite timetables for action put in place."

Twenty four of the 32 risk buildings have a heritage listing.  Cr Max Shierlaw said the council needs to be "pragmatic" and to allow the owners to pull them down.

Ms Kelly confirmed the owners of two of the buildings have asked for permission to demolish.  However, if the buildings are in the Jackson St heritage precinct, that would require a resource consent and hearing.

At the same meeting, to help such owners, councillors approved establishment of a new $150,000 Heritage Fund aimed at encouraging owners to protect, retain and conserve heritage values.  Rates remissions had been offered in the past for this purpose but there had been no uptake.

Owners will be able to apply for grants from the fund to cover costs such as advice from heritage specialists and a partial resource or building consent fee waiver.

Urban design manager Paki Maaka said an updated inventory of the city's heritage buildings and sites should be finished by the end of June.  It needed to be recognised that "not all heritage is created equal, in effect".  Limited funds have to be directed to protecting our most important heritage.

Building owners told the Hutt News that while the new policy and Heritage Fund is a step forward, it doesn't go far enough.  

Petone Community Board chairman Gerald Davidson said the council should contribute more, as the costs can't be passed on to tenants.

"The real issue is the cost of the work ... (earthquake) strengthening can be up to $1 million."

Petone Heritage Society secretary Roy Hewson says he is frustrated with the way the council has dealt with building owners.

"I understand the council are putting a drag net on all the people who haven't responded to earthquake protection."

The risk is that some owners of heritage buildings will do the work, but seek to put blocks of flats on top.

Petone's Dutch Shop owner Tom Hudig recently strengthened his building, and says he was disappointed with the council's limited involvement in the work they insisted on being done.

"They dragged the chain a bit."

Other city's heritage budgets:

Christchurch $500,000

Wellington $250,000

New Plymouth $50,000