Bella Vista Homes saga: Review finds scouring at evacuated Tauranga home did not make it dangerous

A dangerous buildings notice is pinned to a fence outside properties in the failed Bella Vista Homes development at The Lakes in Tauranga.

One of the 21 homes caught up in the the failed Bella Vista subdivision was not dangerous due to scouring on the site as declared by the Tauranga City Council seven years ago, a government report says.

It also found 307 Lakes Boulevard was not an “affected building” relating to risks from a neighbouring roof or potential debris.

However, the determination, by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, was unable to rule out the threat posed by a non-compliant block wall, believed to be unable to cope with load bearing.

The council issued dangerous or affected building notices to 21 homes in the Bella Vista Homes subdivision after evacuating 13 resident families. The failed subdivision’s homes were brought, sold, demolished or relocated then redeveloped. There were subsequent investigations, a trial, and appeals around the case.

The council applied to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for the determination, which was accepted in 2019.

Determinations can be requested when there is a dispute or doubt about building regulations or whether work complies with the Building Code.

A separate determination regarding 311 Lakes Boulevard was also sought by a builder and this was still being processed.

The determination for 307 Lakes Boulevard, released on January 12, was carried out by ministry principal adviser Peta Hird.

Its purpose was to establish whether the home at 307 Lakes Boulevard was a dangerous or affected building as defined by the Building Act.

The Bella Vista Homes subdivision was established in The Lakes in 2015-2016 .

In February, 2017, Bella Vista director Danny Cancian sent a letter to the council acknowledging some sites, including 307 and 307A Lakes Boulevard, were “heavily cut sites... there is a risk of erosion after heavy rain and cracking after long periods”.

Cancian continued: “If scouring has caused any safety issues, or affecting any other properties, [the developer] will immediately ensure remedial measures [will] be undertaken to protect any persons and/or property”.

Scouring refers to water eroding the sediments that surround a home’s base or support structures.

In November 2017, Bella Vista Homes was placed into voluntary liquidation. Some sites were left incomplete and there were unretained cut slopes between some Lakes Boulevard and Aneta Way properties.

The determination said an independent building consultant visited the subdivision several times from February 2018, and found seven key concerns. These included uncontrolled surface water runoff, uncertified fill, and undermining of foundations.

On March 9, 2018, the council received the findings of a geotechnical report raising concerns about “ineffective” water control, scouring, and erosion presenting “a risk to people and vehicles”.

This report recommended temporary evacuation.

That day, the council issued a warrant evacuating 21 homes in the subdivision to avoid danger ahead of an impending Cyclone Hola.

A photo taken at the Bella Vista Homes development site on March 9, 2018, the day 21 houses were suddenly evacuated.

The following week, the council received another two geotechnical reports warning of “bad scour and an unretained face between 307 and 307A Lakes Boulevard, and some small undermining of the raft foundation of 307A”.

On April 16, 2018, the council issued notices declaring 21 dwellings in the subdivision dangerous and/or affected buildings, including 307.

The notice for 307 stated “expert advice” cited deep scouring between 307 and 307A plus a basement block wall at 307A built too high. Because of this, the wall was “at risk of failure” and “likely to cause damage to the property and injury to persons” nearby.

The notice included concerns that 307 could be hit by debris from 307A and there was a risk nearby roofs could lift in gale-force winds and cause harm to people.

The council bought all 21 properties from affected homeowners in November 2018. Some homes were demolished. Others had their upper levels removed and relocated.

On June 10, 2019, another engineer’s report, based on five inspections of 307 during demolition, found the dangerous building classification was correct.: “Based on the number and severity of the structural defects... the [dwelling] has been correctly classified as dangerous... in accordance with the provisions of the Building Act 2004.”

The block wall had been consented to be one metre high “but was actually constructed as 2.8m high and retaining soil to a height of 1.8m”. This made it “inadequate to support the wall soil loads”.

It stated scouring channels could be more than 1m deep.

However, a second geotechnical engineer found that while some slope movement might happen, it would be localised and “insufficient to cause partial or complete collapse of 307 Lakes Boulevard or the upslope buildings”.

Hird said he was able to review all relevant reports and submissions before making his decision.

Despite the concerns, there was not enough evidence to determine that 307 was, specifically, a dangerous building concerning deep scouring, Hird said.

Some of the affected Bella Vista homes, pictured a year after homeowners were evacuated from the properties by Tauranga City Council. Photo / Andrew Warner

Hird cited the second engineer’s view it was not “geotechnically dangerous” because there was “no clear evidence” of severe erosion at the time of inspections in April 2018.

There also did not appear to be substantial evidence that scouring was impacting a particular wall at 307A, thought to have made 307 an affected building if it collapsed. Likewise, there was not enough information to back concerns of 307A’s roof potentially lifting in strong winds, he stated.

Hird said that while the block wall had not been built to consent, he could not rule it as dangerous for this reason despite accepting that if it collapsed, it would result in damage and potentially cause injury or death. However, the builder’s record of work was “not clear” and could not be relied on due to contradictory evidence about the spacing of reinforcing. The absence of other evidence meant a conclusion could not be made, Hird said.

In the determination, Hird stated his role was not to consider whether the authority acted reasonably in issuing the notice, or to do a judicial review of the decision.

“In other words, a determination is not an assessment of the authority’s judgment in issuing a notice based on the information available at the time... The authority was in a unique and challenging position when it was considering concerns across the whole subdivision in relation to multiple buildings and issued the notice.”

Sarah Omundsen, general manager of regulatory and compliance, at a Tauranga City Council meeting. Photo / Alex Cairns

Council general manager of regulatory and compliance Sarah Omundsen said it was reviewing the decision, considering what could be learned and whether further action was required.

“In this instance, we had engineering advice that aspects of this and other buildings in the Bella Vista subdivision were likely to represent a danger to their inhabitants and with a forecasted [sic] severe weather event on the horizon, the council stepped in to ensure that a terrible outcome could not occur.”

Omundsen said the matter was “a complex case”, evidenced by the ministry taking five years and many reports before making a decision “and in some respects they have still not been able to do so”.

“We continue to believe that this was the right decision to make at the time,” Omundsen said.

Ministry acting national manager for building resolution Susie Campbell said the determination involved a significant volume of technical material. Changes to its team, operation and systems were also factors in the five years it took before providing a result, she said.

The ministry was now implementing recommendations from an external 2023 review to ensure its service was “fit for purpose”.

Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.