Ryman Healthcare Edmund Hillary village’s hub is sinking – residents speak out

Residents in Ryman Healthcare’s Edmund Hillary village in Auckland have complained about work to fix the main hub building, which is sinking.

Ryman has acknowledged problems with the ground under its main block in Remuera, which is the Aoraki Hospital, the village centre, reception, entertainment and some serviced apartments.

One resident said just under 600 people live in the village at 221 Abbots Way where since last May, some services had been cut due to parts of that hub being shut.

“This is an awful situation that hundreds of us are being subjected to. There has been no entertainment due to the reception area sinking. We get weekly updates but the story is still the same with no end in sight,” a resident said.

The main block under repair at Ryman Healthcare's Edmund Hillary Retirement Village in Remuera.

The dance floor had been locked off since last May and at times, lifts in the reception area could not be used, the resident said.

None of the residents wanted to be named, saying they feared the consequences.

A number of residents and family members have contacted the Herald since it was first reported that extensive work was under way.

All expressed unhappiness about work at the village for people aged 75 years and over.

The area outlined in red shows the scope of relevelling work at the Edmund Hillary retirement village in Remuera. This map was supplied to residents by owner Ryman Healthcare.

One man said he did not expect to be living in the middle of what feels to him like a construction site during his retirement.

Two residents told of cracks appearing in buildings “and that’s causing serious concerns to us as residents”.

Many people had to leave Aoraki Hospital due to the work and were shifted to other Ryman properties or elsewhere.

One woman told of the distress for her family when last year Ryman offered to move her parent to a village far from the Remuera one.

The reception was relocated so work could be carried out at Ryman Healthcare's Edmund Hillary retirement village in Remuera.

The family were unhappy and although they managed to find an alternative hospital, it was not in a Ryman village, she said.

Grant Costello, village manager, sent out information last April when the work was about to begin, saying it was fortunate Ryman had a large network of 11 villages in the Auckland region.

He said then the work had “an estimated timeframe of four months to complete both the work and restoration”.

But works still continue and a Ryman spokesman told the Herald this month there was no end date.

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience this relevelling work will cause. Unfortunately, there is no other way to carry out the work effectively without causing this disruption. We will be there to support you throughout the process and we will be providing regular updates on progress,” Costello wrote to residents last April.

This month, a Ryman spokesman said: “We are carrying out some relevelling work at our Edmund Hillary Retirement Village. Over time, ground settlement has led to floors becoming uneven in places. The work involves a section of the village centre being temporarily unavailable.

“While we’re working to complete the remediation as quickly as possible, we’re not yet able to provide a precise timeframe for completion of the works. We have apologised to residents for any inconvenience or disruption the work has caused,” the spokesman said.

Ryman has an asset base of $14.1 billion, has villages in New Zealand and Victoria, Australia and has 14,600 people in its villages, which are staffed by 7700 employees.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.