Decades of warnings before fire
Decades of council headaches with Tapu Te Ranga Marae have been revealed in a stack of freshly unearthed paperwork predating a massive and near-fatal blaze.
The Island Bay, Wellington marae was razed to the ground in June 2019 and 28 cub scouts escaped in the nick of time after fire alarms had been turned off.
Stuff has received a stack of paperwork dating back to the late 1970s documenting the headache the marae was for the Wellington City Council as it grew massively with little regard for council and fire regulations.
But they also reveal the dual role that 1983 Wellington mayor Michael Fowler was juggling while he was also on the marae trust.
In the letter to the town clerk, Fowler said he was ‘‘staggered’’ to find out marae head Bruce Stewart had proceeded with work on a building at the site without a building permit.
‘‘I am embarrassed about this matter and I trust that you and our officers will take a lenient view of what is clearly an infringement of good manners let alone bylaw requirements,’’ the mayor wrote to his town clerk.
A fire investigation report, released under the Official Information Act, showed the June 2019 fire was likely started by sparks from a brazier but fire alarms did not go off because they had been turned off to stop false alarms.
Twenty-eight cubs and venturers had been asleep inside and only became aware when accompanying adults smelt smoke at 12.30am.
The documents reveal that as far back as 1979 there were concerns being raised about the building’s fire readiness.
A long list of NZ Fire Service recommendations from December that year included the need for an automated sprinkler system and fire alarms.
The Wellington City Council had plenty of warning after the 1979 report that fire safety was not up to scratch.
Concerns were raised at least twice in 1996, including that the ‘‘unfinished system provides no protection’’, though it appears these issues were fixed.
In September, 1991, then mayor Jim Belich was written to by a builder asking how the marae had managed to be allowed to remain, despite no building permits or safety features.
‘‘For the past 17 years this structure has been visited by school children and community groups, and I suggest that it is just good luck that a disaster has not occurred,’’ the letter said.
Current Wellington mayor Andy Foster said it was well known that Fowler was a strong advocate of the marae and he supported the work it did to help vulnerable people in the city.
‘‘Things have changed enormously over the past four decades – including the passing of the Building Act in 1991.’’
Following the fire, a Givealittle page was set up to help fund a rebuild. It raised more than $98,000. Council spokesman Richard MacLean confirmed no paperwork had yet been filed for the rebuild.