Spike of interest in doomsday bunkers
As New Zealand hunkered down this week, a well-prepped few headed underground. Bevan Hurley reports.
New Zealanders who have spent years planning and hundreds of thousands of dollars, are believed to have taken to subterranean survival shelters to see out the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
And two US companies who specialise in doomsday-style bunkers say they have shipped to New Zealand and are seeing an ‘‘exponential growth’’ in interest since the pandemic began.
California-based Vivos claim to have built a communal bunker in the North Island where people have signed up to be able to live there.
According to a spokesperson, prospective entrants first have to go through a vetting process and those with the right skills can get a discounted membership.
‘‘We look first for people that we wouldn’t want to be in a shelter without, including their attitude, tolerance for all others, and skillsets.’’
The founder of Texas-based Rising S, Clyde Scott, said they had shipped shelters to Hamilton, Hanmer Springs and Wanaka in recent years.
Both companies are vague on the number and location of their sales, they say to protect client privacy.
It also protects their sales claims from rigorous scrutiny, and previous coverage of spikes in underground bunkers – such as in 2018 – have been met with denials by councils who control building consent applications.
Hurunui District Council, which covers Hanmer Springs, said they had no record of any resource consent applications to build bunkers or underground shelters in the district in the past 5-10 years.
Underground bunkers have been a part of life in New
Zealand since at least the 1840s when Nga¯ puhi chief Kawiti and his forces used them to shelter from British bombardment.
Such was the effectiveness and complexity of the design of the network of tunnels and escape routes built into the pa at Ruapekapeka, the British troops reportedly built a replica and took it back to London to display at the Houses of Parliament.
Many bunkers and underground coastal fortifications were built around the country during World War II, as the threat of invasion lingered.
Arguably the nation’s most famous bunker, the National Crisis Management Centre, stretches deep underneath the Beehive and allows Civil Defence and senior government officials to operate in case of a major natural disaster or emergency.
Features include a generator, cupboards stocked with long-life food, and high-tech communications.
In recent years, as New Zealand has become an attractive retreat for the superrich, bunkers have been associated with US billionaires looking to escape war, pestilence and famine.
However, the ban on foreign property ownership in 2018 resulted in a decline in demand for these expensive retreats. Clyde Scott from Rising S said the fall-off in demand was now being reversed with a high level of interest from New Zealanders. He said he had sold two shelters in New Zealand as a result of Covid-19.
‘‘As far as riding out the pandemic in New Zealand I think it’s a great idea as it is landlocked from everywhere else and there are so many sparsely populated areas.’’
A bunker can be installed in pretty much any type of soil, saidScott.
‘‘While we have installed under previously built homes as well as new construction the most common is on rural property away from everything.’’
Rising S offers the Mini Bunker, a 2.5m x 3.5m ‘economy shelter’ for US$39,500,
(NZ$65,400) with bunk bed, air filtration system, built from stainless steel. Entrance is via a staircase, there’s lighting and TV off a 12 volt battery, and a composting toilet.
At the pricier end is the 3m x 12m bomb shelter with a bullet resistant door, bulk storage and shelving, and odourless waste pumps.
Shipping a 3m x 15m from the US can cost around US$27,000.