Collapse of villa in heritage street sets off investigations

The Summer Street house fell from its makeshift foundations early yesterday. Picture / Greg Bowker

Two investigations are under way after a 1910 Ponsonby villa collapsed and fell about 3m into an excavated basement level yesterday.

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he was woken about 6am by what felt like a trembling earthquake.

The house in 56 Summer St - one of Auckland's residential 1 heritage streets - was supported by steel props when it collapsed.

The lean-to on the back of the house was only prevented from falling into the neighbouring section by a fence post and a cabbage tree.

The accident also caused a power pole to hang dangerously on a 30-degree angle.

Auckland City Council building control manager Ian McCormick later said he was trying to track down the developer and builder, Mark Ensom, after unconfirmed reports that one of his workers was sleeping in the house when the accident occurred.

The worker is not believed to have been injured.

Mr Ensom, who is in his 20s, did not return calls from the Herald. In December he said he had a few renovation projects on the go in the area, including a bungalow at 22 Georgina St in Freemans Bay he was selling that had had major excavation work.

Mr McCormick said the council was taking emergency action to secure the house from further collapse and protect public safety. Work included laying polythene sheeting to prevent water damaging an exposed bank on the boundary with 54 Summer St.

Mr McCormick said the council had launched an inquiry into the accident, including the structure of the house before it collapsed, what checks, if any, the council had made on the work and issues concerning resource and building consents.

Occupational Safety and Health is also investigating the accident.

One neighbour, Richard Wallace, said the council had not checked the site since excavation started seven days ago.

Council files show Mr Ensom was fined $750 last May for doing "illegal work" on 56 Summer St without a resource consent. He was also issued with an abatement notice in November for failing to fix a sewage overflow.