Vector denies it caused Du Val-managed Manukau’s Lakewood Plaza to lose electricity

Lakewood Plaza has around 500 residents in 151 units. Photo / Tom Dillane

Lines company Vector says electricity failures at the Du Val-managed Manukau apartment block Lakewood Plaza last month were not its fault.

A Vector spokesman said: “While Vector was asked to investigate the fault inside the Lakewood Plaza apartment tower, we determined it was an internal issue and had nothing to do with us.”

Lakewood Plaza’s building managers emailed residents last month saying a specialised team from Vector was scheduled to investigate the root cause of the recurring power issues and people would be kept updated.

In an update on September 16, a spokesperson for Du Val Property Management informed residents the electricity was restored later that morning.

“The issue was external and due to a Vector fault. Building management will be urgently escalating the matter to gain further information regarding this,” the spokesperson said last month.

But Vector was firm that it had nothing to do with the issue and contacted the Herald to make that clear.

Earlier, Lakewood residents complained about the inconvenience of such a large building with around 151 apartments not having power.

“They didn’t get the power back on at Lakewood until around 12.40am - 28 hours without power there,” one resident told the Herald of the mid-September cut.

“Another fridge and freezer full of food to chuck out and replace.”

Building management told residents that services such as lifts and the ground-level gym were closed.

However, other services such as smoke detectors and sprinklers remained fully functional during the power outages.

This was not the first problem at the complex developed by Du Val, now in statutory management with about $235 million worth of liabilities.

About 500 people were evacuated from Lakewood Plaza in November 2021 when a water main on level 11 burst.

Charlotte Clarke, Du Val chief executive, said at the time the property managers were paying to put Lakewood residents up in other Auckland places.

After the 2021 flood in the apartments in Manukau, substantial repairs have been under way.

Owners were asked to pay for the “flood restoration project” at the block where repairs were estimated in a June 2023 Excel spreadsheet to take 33 months and cost $11,414,000, although an owner said the total levy was $3m.

Minutes from an extraordinary body corporate general meeting on October 2, issued by Strata Title Administration, put the sum at $3.4m to be collected last and this year in four instalments.

Another owner said he would pay $30,000 for repairs.

“The body corporate agreed to millions of dollars in repairs. It has been ridiculously expensive.”

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.