Dodgy construction work has protesters livid

By PHILIP ENGLISH

A lack of staff at the Manukau City Council has resulted in hundreds of "shoddy" building developments in Howick and Pakuranga causing overcrowding, flooding and serious subsidence.

Tonight an onslaught of angry ratepayers will converge on the council to hear how it will deal with the problems.

The council will consider a critical Audit New Zealand review of its building and resource consent processes under the Resource Management and Building Acts.

The review has recommended that the council should increase staff as one way of improving its procedures.

It says the operating environment in the council's resource and building consent and compliance units is characterised by increasing workloads, a shortage of experienced staff and significant pressure to complete consents within time limits set by legislation.

"Local authorities are finding it more and more difficult to attract and retain appropriately qualified staff to deal with increasing volumes of applications," the review says.

Problems arising out of a lack of supervision by council staff include substandard workmanship, overcrowding, unauthorised building, flooding and raw sewage overflows.

The review, which keeps individual cases secret, targets six specific problem cases and also considers another 20 properties chosen randomly across the city. Councillors have been told not to discuss individual cases with the media for legal reasons but it is understood the problems are widespread.

It is believed that the council is bracing itself for a number of legal challenges by disgruntled ratepayers whose properties have been affected.

Public meetings earlier this year were attended by hundreds of people.

"Just about everybody who turned up had some problem," Cr Sharon Stewart said yesterday.

She said she knew of hundreds of problems.

The Herald has been told the problems have occurred in older suburbs undergoing housing intensification but one complainant said yesterday the problems were "global" across Manukau.

The Audit New Zealand review was sought in May after the Mayor of Manukau, Sir Barry Curtis, witnessed unacceptable building practices in Howick and Pakuranga in April.

In a letter to the Manukau city manager, Colin Dale, Sir Barry complained of houses being built up against boundaries, excavations undertaken immediately next to boundaries, retaining wall faults, drainage problems, flooding and unauthorised building in Howick, Pakuranga and Bucklands Beach.

He was being contacted by ratepayers affected by shoddy developments.

He told Mr Dale that he believed what he had seen was the tip of the iceberg and the deficiencies were hiding and delaying problems for both present and future property owners.

The council director of city services, Wayne Goodley, said: "It is a problem that results from the intensification of development that is now taking place in our communities and the ever increasing value in land ... certainly in places like Howick where you have got your sea views and high quality lifestyle."

Cr Stewart said that for five years or longer she had been on to council officials over the issue.

"Manukau City Council seems to have moved away from concentrating on its core services. It seems to be more involved in community development and cultural things and health and education - things that central government should be picking up - and I think that's why we have got a lot of these problems.

"We have been over-resourcing on community development and under-resourcing on our core business," she said.

Manukau mayoral candidate Len Brown said that at tonight's meeting he would address accountability from the city manager down.

He did not see the matter as an election issue but management of the council needed a significant overhaul.

"It is just not appropriate for us to point fingers and say it is the officers' fault or the mayor's fault. It goes back to us as a body."

Peoples Choice mayoral candidate Dick Quax said he wanted to make sure the problems did not happen again in the future.

He was not aware of a huge number of problems but even one case was unacceptable.

"People tend to forget there is a human element to all this."

Another mayoral candidate, Frances Higgins, said she became involved when a man dug a hole 2m deep 600mm from the boundary to her property in Cockle Bay in August last year. "Nobody at the council will listen."

The problems

* Sub-standard workmanship.

* Overcrowding.

* Houses being built up against boundaries.

* Excavations undertaken immediately next to boundaries.

* Retaining wall faults.

* Drainage problems.

* Flooding.

* Unauthorised building.

* Sewage overflows.