Axe hangs over houses

SARAH YOUNG

Up to 12 homes in the Tahunanui area may be demolished, but it is unlikely large areas of the suburb will have to be abandoned, Nelson's mayor says.

Nelson mayor Aldo Miccio said on Radio NZ this morning parts of Tahunanui, in different spots, could be demolished.

Later this morning, Mr Miccio told the Nelson Mail he was speaking about a few houses, spread over a few different parts of Tahunanui, rather than whole areas.

"I certainly don't see any large areas being abandoned ... I was just referring to a few houses in certain areas, once they've gone through the EQC process, if the cost to repair is greater than the value of the houses themselves. It's all unknown.

"There could be areas in Tahunanui where more than one house is demolished, but this has to be qualified by EQC and insurance companies."

He said he did not want to speculate on the areas this might be in, but said: "Where there's more than one red-stickered house in an area, there's a chance those houses might be demolished."

This could possibly include areas such as Grenville Tce, Moana Ave or Rocks Rd.

"A lot of people think about Christchurch where whole areas were written off by the Government, but that's not us. It's up to private house owners at this stage."

Nelson City Council building manager Tracy Quinton-Boundy said at a community meeting last night that it was likely a few houses would be demolished, however, Mr Miccio said this morning it could be more.

There were 30 houses that were still equivalent to red-stickered homes, with the greatest concentration in the Tahunanui slump area, he said.

"It would be a number of those homes that could potentially be demolished. "My concern is that when they really drill down it could be more affordable to write-off than repair. It could be half-a-dozen to a dozen homes [to be demolished] really."

The council was not involved in these decisions, which were a "private matter" between EQC and the landowner.

However, at last night's community meeting attended by about 40 Nelson and Richmond residents, Nelson lawyer Tony Stallard questioned who was responsible for cleaning up or repairing damage on a private property if damage was caused by a slip on council land.

This was a situation which had affected him, and many others in Nelson, and they were "waiting in no-man's land" while the council sorted out its insurance, he said.

Nelson-Tasman recovery manager Mike Schruer said the council was still seeking advice on this.

Following the meeting, Mr Stallard said claim shortfalls were likely to be a bigger problem than many people realised, particularly in the case of remedial or stabilising work such as retaining walls.

EQC used the indemnity, or depreciated, value of a retaining wall in their calculations, while the real cost of fixing it could be a lot more significant, he said.

As an example, a retaining wall on his property which cost $175,000 to build, and which had been damaged by a slip on council land, would be given an indemnity value of $2000 by EQC, he said.

Mr Miccio said this morning the council was working with its insurance company to determine where the responsibility for remedial work fell in areas where there had been damage to houses from slips on council land.

"There's potential in situations like [Mr Stallard's] that we will be talking with our insurance companies to see if they will cover those costs."

Other issues arising at last night's meeting included stormwater and drainage discharge onto properties, particularly because there were several areas in Nelson, including parts of Tahunanui Hill, which did not have a public stormwater system.

Some residents were concerned about slips on neighbouring properties which were now on their land, and were told by council staff this was a private issue to be dealt with by the home owners.

Other residents said they still had not got feedback from EQC or council staff about whether they could return to their property, or when it would be assessed, and were relying on their neighbours to know if inspectors had been.

Meanwhile, there were others who had been given the all-clear, but still did not feel safe to return.

Cambria St resident Sue Stevens said her major concern was a slip sitting up above their house, which they suspected originated from council land, but they were allowed to go home.

"And no-one has actually been there to look through the slip. There's a lot of debris."

Nearby resident Judy Keats said she too was nervous to go home because of the slip, and only having one exit. "It's lovely to get to go back, but there [is] still looming danger up there."

They had been told to leave their properties in the case of "imminent danger", but knowing exactly what that meant was difficult, she said.

However, while there were frustrations with getting information from EQC, many residents praised the council staff they had dealt with during the process.

- © Fairfax NZ News