Hunger striking over leaky home
AManawatu¯ man has pledged to start a hunger strike after four years of battling with the heartbreak of a leaky and structurally defective home.
It’s been a year since Lesley Thomas and George Griffiths, both in their 50s, first went public with the story of their leaky home. Now George has hit rock bottom.
He has given the Manawatu¯ District Council notice he’ll start a hunger strike on Monday if it doesn’t step in and help.
Just over four years ago, the pair bought their home half way up the Ruahine Ranges in Pohangina Valley, hoping to create a peaceful haven for people suffering from depression, and their families.
In 2009, Griffiths’ son Ryan took his own life at the age of 16.
“When Ryan passed away we got some peace being up high. Being up high, you got away from things and you can put things into perspective,” he said.
Griffiths said something is not right with New Zealand’s alarming suicide statistics and they wanted to help.
“You’ve got the victims of people who take their lives, but you’ve also got the people who are left behind with the loss.”
He and Thomas hoped the property could become a retreat to help others in a similar situation as Griffiths but their peaceful haven turned out be a nightmare they were unable to wake from.
After moving in, they discovered significant shortcomings in the way the home was built. Experts say the house should never have receive a Code Compliance Certificate from the Manawatu¯ District Council.
Problem after problem has been uncovered, including water tightness, plumbing, retaining walls and even structural integrity.
Jeff Twigge, of NZ House Surveys, took his report to a council meeting in September last year to shed light on what he had found.
He told the council he had “thrown them a bone” in the report and the council had two options:
“One is to pick this bone up, run with it and seek to resolve it with my clients. The other option is to do what a dog does and seek to bury that bone,” said Twigge.
Councillor Barbara Cameron said the meeting was not a place to discuss the case and the council moved on to other matters.
Since going public a year ago, Thomas and Griffiths have had multiple meetings with the council, but have been told the only solution is to take the council to court — an action the couple say they cannot afford to do.
Thomas and Griffiths’ case is