No option but to buy
Buying out the 21 homes making up the failed Bella Vista development was the only option available to avoid a potentially damaging legal case, an investigation has revealed.
Tauranga City councillors on Wednesday agreed in principle to purchase the properties which homeowners were forced to evacuate on March 7.
QC Paul Heath produced a 158-page report shortly before that decision which outlined a raft of failures from council dating back to December 2016.
He said some defects should have been obvious even to an amateur and recommended an investigation be conducted to further investigate why the council ‘‘fell so short of complying adequately with a number of Resource Management Act and Building Act requirements’’.
Heath said council did not perform monitoring and enforcement functions adequately, failed in its building consent functions, did not perform Building Act inspections for both structural and geotechnical considerations and issued four code of compliance certificates in error.
‘‘As the council is, in reality, the last target for litigation from which recoveries are likely, in a practical sense I consider the benefits of early resolution far outweigh any desire to have the homeowners’ claims tested in court,’’ he said. ‘‘There are good legal, economic, and humanitarian reasons for the council to acknowledge the shortcomings in its regulatory functions and endeavour to give a swift resolution of any disputes.’’
Heath was critical of council’s inspection team that carried out 310 property inspections at the Bella Vista subdivision.
‘‘The absence of an appropriate retaining wall is obvious, even to a nonprofessional,’’ he said.
‘‘It is difficult to understand how a building inspector could not have realised that stability concerns existed and had to be addressed.
‘‘Similarly, I conclude the council’s inspectors ought to have observed the structural defects identified.’’
These failures included missing lintel fixings, missing roof bracing, incorrectly installed load-bearing walls, missing fixings between timber packing and steel beams, joist hangers missing to name a few.
‘‘All of the structural aspects... were there to be seen during the court of a framing and pre wrap inspection,’’ Heath said. ‘‘The defects were not identified at that time.’’
Mayor Greg Brownless said the decision to buy out the homes does not set a precedent going forward for them or other councils.
‘‘It is a discreet case,’’ he said. ‘‘It does not mean if developer gets into trouble council will bail them out. If we had not passed inspections and issued code compliance certificates council would have had little involvement.’’
Brownless said the saga came as a shock to councillors and they are making a commitment to get to the bottom of the problem.
‘‘We’re not going to sweep it under the carpet,’’ he said.‘‘It [the faults] should have been obvious even to an amateur but it got through.’’
Chief executive Garry Poole fronted media shortly after Heath’s report was made public. He said since March 9 council has spent about $2 million in legal fees, accommodation and security just to manage the failed Bella Vista subdivision. A final cost after all homes have been purchased is not yet known. Asked if Tauranga City Council could be trusted to handle the building consent process given the report’s findings he replied ‘‘Yes they can’’ and reinforced that council issues were isolated to Bella Vista homes.
Pressed on this point that many homes Pyes Pa at the same time as Bella Vista and how can they be sure issues were not affecting those homes Poole said the topography of the site made it unique.