A list of 4300 Auckland buildings that could tumble and kill in a moderate earthquake will be kept secret from the public, at least until building owners have had the chance to challenge an engineering assessment of their properties.
The Auckland Council is making it difficult for the public to learn which buildings could collapse, despite a warning from acting building control manager Bob De Leur that many were "held together by gravity rather than mortar".
The unreinforced masonry buildings in Auckland are of the same type as those that caused "catastrophic damage" during the Christchurch earthquakes, he told the governing body yesterday.
But Mr De Leur, with the backing of Mayor Len Brown and most councillors, believes publishing the list of Auckland buildings could generate unreasonable panic or blacklisting of properties.
Mr De Leur was annoyed that calls for the list to be released were based on "sensationalism" and came before buildings owners had time to challenge council and engineering assessments.