Buy-out of 10 at-risk properties completed
Nelson City Council has spent nearly $7 million buying out 10 properties in The Brook at risk from slips originating from public land.
The council announced in November it was in talks with the owners of the properties in the Brook St area threatened by slips following the August 2022 extreme rain event, and a further downpour in May 2023.
Council staff at the time gave a “ballpark” figure of $5.6m for the buy-out.
A council statement on Wednesday said the cost to purchase all the properties was approximately $6.7m.
The council originally planned to remediate the slips as part of a $17.3m programme of work agreed to in May to repair and “build back better” slips on council land.
But further rainfall and geotechnical investigations meant the proposed fixes were no longer fit for purpose, and the likelihood of these slips reactivating in a future major weather event had increased, the statement said.
“As there was no reasonable or cost-effective way for council to remediate these slips to an acceptable level, purchasing the affected properties using the slip repair package fund had a lower net cost and risk than any other option.”
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said negotiating with multiple private parties in The Brook required sensitivity from council staff, and goodwill from the homeowners.
“This was a very difficult situation where council had received professional geotechnical advice that these homes may be impacted by future major weather events and that the cost of stabilising the landslides from council land exceeded the properties’ values.
“This was even more of a shock in that many of these properties were not directly damaged during the August 2022 storm.”
Smith said he was “hugely relieved” the council had been able to “amicably resolve” the predicament within six months “without any protracted legal disputes”.
All dwellings on the site were being offered for sale for relocation, by tender.
That would close by the end of the month.
Any unsold structures would then be “packaged for tender for deconstruction”.
Once that process has been completed, the land would be cleared of any remaining buildings.
A bund with stormwater controls would be built at the bottom of the properties to protect council services, Brook St and properties across the street.
The land would then be planted out so it could revert to a natural state, possibly being vested as a part of the Tantragee Reserve.
The purchase was separate to a voluntary property buy-out proposal - where council would split the cost with the Government of buying out 14 properties damaged so badly the repair cost outweighed the value of the home.
That proposal was due to be consulted on in the 2024-2034 draft Long Term Plan.
“The Long Term Plan consultation asks whether council should accept a package of Government support worth $12.3m that includes $6m to cover up to 50% of the purchase price of up to 14 properties affected by slips during the August 2022 weather event,” the council said.
If eligibility buy-out principles for purchasing those properties was accepted, some of that funding may go toward offsetting council’s costs in purchasing the Brook St homes.
Smith stressed the buyouts in The Brook were a “very specific response to a specific situation”.
“We need a national conversation about how recovery from events like these is paid for.”
The next challenge for council with the recovery work would be negotiating solutions for private properties where the risk is from other private land, he said.
That process was subject to council decisions on the Long Term Plan, a draft of which was out for consultation.