Editorial: Vacant buildings attract trouble, serious fall should ring alarm bells for Wellington

Four teenagers were spoken to after the derelict Toomath's Building on Ghuznee Street burned down last year. Photo / George Heard

EDITORIAL

Seven years ago, an earthquake centred 153 kilometres away changed Wellington’s landscape forever.

A CBD once bustling with office blocks, social housing, a library and a Town Hall became a city pockmarked with abandoned buildings, scaffolding, burst water pipes and graffiti.

The 2016 Kaikōura earthquake badly damaged Wellington’s infrastructure and buildings and revealed major structural concerns in the event of another big quake.

The result has been hundreds of buildings either abandoned or facing an uncertain future. Those evacuated and boarded up have unsurprisingly attracted squatters and antisocial behaviour.

On Monday night the serious risk of leaving buildings vacant was made clear when a man, believed to be homeless, fell three floors down a damaged stairwell in the vacant Pringle House.

He spent the night critically injured inside the abandoned office block before being discovered on Tuesday morning.

Emergency services outside Wellington's Pringle House on Tuesday. Photo / Ethan Manera

The building’s owner was quick to point out the struggles they’ve had with keeping trespassers out, taking media on an impromptu tour to show where gates have been installed and fences erected.

Prime Property’s Jason Dunn said it was crucial to highlight that all measures have been taken to prevent illegal entry to the building.

“We have gone above and beyond to try and prevent individuals from illegally entering the building,” Dunn said.

“Prime Property has been tirelessly working with its engineers and its insurers, engineers for many years to resolve the future of the building and whether it can be repaired or requires demolition.”

It’s not the first time an abandoned building has become a serious safety risk in central Wellington.

In October last year, four teenagers aged 13 and 14 were referred to youth services after burning down a derelict building on Ghuznee Street.

Firefighters battle a blaze at the empty Toomath's Building in central Wellington last October. Photo / George Heard

Police said one of the teens set fire to items inside, subsequently causing the blaze.

The heritage-listed Toomath’s Building had been cordoned off as an earthquake risk since 2019.

The boarded-up Reading Cinema complex on Courtenay Place has been described as a “great big... black hole”, contributing to an escalation in antisocial behaviour in the city’s party strip at night.

The controversial – and ultimately failed – council attempt to get that building fixed up illustrates just how complicated the issue is to resolve.

It’s something the Government is clearly aware of, with Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk calling the current situation “untenable”.

He’s previously pointed out the myriad complexities to get buildings either fixed or demolished, including the heritage status of buildings, reaching universal agreements within body corporates, insurance battles and the cost.

It’s the reason this Government has brought forward a review of rules for earthquake-prone buildings, including a four-year extension for remediation deadlines.

Penk has said ”without change, a significant number of buildings could sit empty, which would have a devastating impact on the economy in cities such as Wellington and provincial towns across New Zealand”.

Empty buildings are already having a devastating impact on Wellington. Not just economically, but on the health and safety of residents.

Monday’s fall paints an alarming future for the capital if changes to earthquake legislation don’t result in action.

A city accepting derelict buildings as the status quo will only attract more trouble, with potentially devastating consequences.