Is it a boat or a house? Decision disputed
Authorities may have floated that his boat is a house but a selfconfessed hippy will keep working on his vessel until it’s all at sea.
Just Doi, who lives in the large ark-like structure with his partner, has battled with authorities since the Dunedin City Council issued his vessel Tohora with a notice to fix, requiring consent.
‘‘They simply have no idea, out of their depth entirely, afloat on a sea of their own ignorance and mystic divination,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m building a boat, by God, and they cannot stop me,’’ Doi, who lives at Aramoana near Dunedin, said.
The debate as to whether it was a boat or a house also involved the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
A draft determination, based on the advice of a naval architect that it was indeed a boat, was in turn appealed by the Dunedin council.
That appeal prompted a hearing, a site inspection and later, a U-turn, with the ministry’s draft determination council.
MBIE manager of determinations Katie Gordon said ‘‘the determination turned on the definitions in the Building Act of ‘building’ and ‘vessel, boat, ferry, or craft used in navigation’.
‘‘The determination concluded that the structure in its current state (and when the council issued the notice to fix) is a building under the act and is not excluded from the definition of a building as a ‘vessel, boat, ferry, or craft used in navigation’. supporting the
That was due to the structure having features that were incompatible with a boat used in navigation and that were not necessary for the construction of a boat, she said.
The determination took into account the findings of the naval architect engaged by MBIE to assist in this matter, she said.
It also acknowledged that work could be carried out which would allow ‘‘the structure to become a boat used in navigation which would then not be subject to the requirements of the act’’.