Landowners upset over devalued property
TWIZEL OTEMATATA RANFURLY OAMARU PALMERSTON
Local democracy reporter
WAIHO Flat landowners have expressed angst and frustration as they watch their devalued land ‘‘going down the river’’ despite a West Coast Regional Council promise four years ago they would be protected.
Landowner Peter Dennehy said he was frustrated nothing had been done since the regional council ‘‘engineered’’ a rating districts amalgamation in 2020 to cofund the protection of its floodprone land, partly through a targeted rate.
‘‘We’re watching our money going down the river every time it floods . . . we need help,’’ he said, during an emotionally charged meeting in Franz Josef this week. Ratepayers expressed outrage at the way the 10year Waiho River management strategy announcement, in October, had effectively wiped their property values by 50%.
Under the strategy, the Waiho Flat area would eventually be abandoned to the shifting river. Waiho Flat landowner Sonja Pettigrew said the latest official valuation wiped their land value by 50% and she believed it had to be linked to the October announcement.
‘‘It’s ruined our equity. We’ve made an objection. We believe the local council has been involved in this major devaluation ... this is unacceptable behaviour,’’ Ms Pettigrew said. With local authorities now having to bargain with the government for flood buyouts, it smelt of a major conflict of interest, she said.
Westland District Council chief executive Simon Bastion defended his council’s role.
The rating valuation process was run completely independently, he said.
Fellow Waiho Flat landowner Kelley Molloy said their ability to get finance was impacted immediately after October.
‘‘You took our capital values to zero. You put us in the position we are never going to sell the land.’’
Council infrastructure resilience group programme manager Scott Hoare said the original funding agreement only released $12.5m to the north Franz Josef side of the river.
However, chief executive Darryl Lew said the council was ‘‘close now’’ to getting the government to release the original $8m allocated for the Waiho Flat side.