Homeowners fear more slips
A New Plymouth couple whose dream home is on top of a collapsing cliff edge say further land slips have taken place over the past few days, and rain forecast for later this week could make their situation even worse.
Meanwhile, neighbours of David Chen and Jenny Zhang, in Waiwera Place, Merrilands, are also getting worried.
The New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) owns the slipping bank, which is part of a reserve, and yesterday sent its building team out to have another look.
But the couple said while they are prepared to reinforce their property, any work would be ‘‘meaningless’’ if the NPDC land below it was not fixed.
‘‘Because (NPDC’S) land has fallen, our land has no support, so it’s affecting our land,’’ Chen said.
‘‘We just need the council to take responsibility and make their land stable.’’
Three slips since late July, during one of the wettest winters for years, have undermined land beneath their boundary fence, which is 3.8 metres from their house.
Since the couple told their story last week there have been more slips, and a neighbour had been to see them.
‘‘His fence is affected,’’ Chen said. ‘‘They came to my place and expressed their concerns.’’
Rain is expected on Thursday, and the couple were frustrated by what they saw as a lack of urgency from the council.
‘‘If we don’t recover the exposed area the erosion will continue and will lead to more issues.’’
NPDC group manager, planning and infrastructure, Kevin Strongman said NPDC had been in regular contact with the couple.
‘‘We have also offered the owner advice on what steps he can take.’’
NPDC’S immediate concern is the safety of the occupants, Strongman said, and the building team was to visit yesterday to see if the latest movement had increased the risk to the house.
‘‘We are also getting a geotech engineer to look at the bank.’’
Strongman did not directly answer a question regarding the council taking responsibility for its land eroding.
Instead he said: ‘‘The planned geotech inspection will provide more information on the situation to enable next steps to be determined.’’
The couple got a Land Information Memorandum (LIM) when they bought the $900,000 house two months ago.
They knew erosion was possible, and say they are not blaming anybody.
The view made the risk worth it, Chen, who works as a geotechnical engineer, said.
‘‘We are preparing to reinforce our land, we need to get council to do their bit. They should take responsibility to maintain their land.’’