Stuck between a rock and a landslip
It was originally meant to be a love nest for a couple of childhood sweethearts.
But access to David McLaughlin and Jacqui Cooper’s hilltop property in Plimmerton has been cut by a landslip on neighbouring Porirua City Council land.
Yet, the council – and the couple’s insurers – aren’t having a bar of it.
The slip, which occurred after heavy rain in July 2017, took out the footpath to the house.
Despite being ‘‘shocked’’ by the ‘‘massive’’ size of the landslip, McLaughlin, who owns the property, drew comfort from the fact he was insured and had EQC cover.
Instead, it was only the beginning of his ‘‘nightmare’’.
‘‘It’s unbelievable. [the council] won’t do anything, they accept no responsibility.’’
Because original access was built on road reserve, McLaughlin was unable to claim compensation through his insurer.
EQC could only offer $3600 to fix the small portion of McLaughlin’s land that was affected by the slip.
The council offered to work with McLaughlin to fix the bank and reinstate access to the property, giving him an April 27 deadline to accept the offer, which he did, on April 23.
‘‘Then I waited and waited and nothing happened. Then I got a letter saying they were starting work. So I rang them up . . . they said ‘Well, you didn’t want our help’.’’
The council apologised to McLaughlin when it realised the mistake, but it had decided it was not a ‘‘cost-effective’’ solution for the property owner in any case.
‘‘So basically I’ve got a landlocked house that I can’t access. They basically said, ‘That’s not really our problem’.’’
On top of losing rental income of about $28,810, he’d already spent ‘‘thousands’’ on lawyers to establish whose responsibility it was to pay.
City and community infrastructure executive officer Ashley Gore said the council stood by its actions dealing with McLaughlin and Cooper.
‘‘Other than not responding in a timely manner to the email we received in April . . . we feel that we went above and beyond in our attempts to support the landowners.’’
He said the council had suggested McLaughlin explore alternative access ways, including liaising with a neighbour for dual access. McLaughlin wasn’t interested in this because it could not be claimed as repairs and maintenance for tax purposes.
Cooper said her partner preferred a solution where he could claim tax back, pointing out the ‘‘missed’’ email, where McLaughlin indicated he would not rule out alternatives to reinstating access as it was.
‘‘[The council] have completely let us down and are still doing that. We remain ever hopeful that we will have a solution at some stage before the house falls into further disrepair.’’
McLaughlin bought the property in 1998 for the couple.
‘‘Up the top is an artist studio, and she was always talking about photography and pottery. I thought she could have her own little space up there. It was always meant to be our love nest.’’
Porirua Mayor Mike Tana said McLaughlin had ‘‘every right to feel aggrieved’’.
‘‘We should have found the email. But the outcome would have been the same.’’