Arson charge after ‘insanitary’ building burns down

The tenant of a rural Wairarapa house built around an old train carriage has been charged with arson after the building was destroyed in a fire on Wednesday.

In September, the building near the end of remote Mangatatere Valley Rd in Carterton was deemed insanitary and its last tenant, Roger Simpson, had just finished moving out before the fire.

Despite ongoing differences between Simpson and owners Blaire Mcgregor and Julie Adam, the landlords had been helping him move out of the building in the days leading up to the blaze.

Simpson had to be out of the building by October 24 because of an insanitary building notice issued by Carterton District Council in September.

The notice meant the carriage would have needed extensive renovation to bring it up to code or be demolished.

The fire was reported to emergency services by a neighbour at about 5.30pm on Wednesday. The neighbour also contacted Mcgregor, who was working on beehives in the area.

When Mcgregor arrived, he said his first concern was that someone may be in the building. He circled the burning structure and saw Simpson in a chair, watching the scene unfold.

‘‘It’s was going full noise. I was glad no-one was in it.’’

Mcgregor said the house was not insured and they had lost a lot of property that had been stored in one of the spare rooms.

The owners had known Simpson for many years but their relationship had become strained over issues relating to the house.

Simpson appeared in Masterton District Court yesterday, charged with arson. He will next appear in court on November 26.