KEY POINTS:
Kaeo residents are delighted the Far North District Council has downgraded an order to raise their homes by half a metre by October to escape possible flooding.
However, Dip Rd resident Paula Jones - who was horrified when she received the council demand last month - wants to see the downgrading put in writing first.
"The council phoned and said that the order has been downgraded and they would be sending a letter," she said.
"The letter was meant to arrive last week and it hasn't yet.
"I would like to take them on their word but after all this I'm not going to trust the council till I see it in writing."
The council first issued letters to Dip Rd residents last month, explaining flooding from the March and July storms had made the houses unsafe and they needed elevating.
Patrick Schofield, customer services manager at the council, said five out of seven properties had asked for the Section 124 notices issued under the Building Act to be downgraded and the council had agreed.
The notices will instead now require the property owners to show they have addressed sanitation and health issues caused by the floods.
Ms Jones said she was pleased that she would now not have to raise her house - which builders estimated would cost at least $40,000 - but was disappointed to be put through so much worry.
"It's good that the council have downgraded the notices but we shouldn't have been issued with them in the first place."
She thought pressure and "noise" from residents made the council change its mind.
"We'd gone through enough during the storms to then have to deal with this as well," Ms Jones said.
Mr Schofield said the notice to raise houses would remain in place for the remaining two properties but in both cases the owners said they wanted more extensive flood mitigation measures done anyway.
"We have made it quite clear to the seven property owners the decision is theirs.
"If they want to take the risk that there will be no further flooding, then that is their choice," he said.
"We will continue to do all we can to find external funding for the properties planning to continue to raise their floor levels, and to help all the properties on which notices were originally served.".
Council workers and the public were to meet at the Whangaroa Memorial Hall, Kaeo, yesterday for an update on flood repair progress including management plans, roading infrastructure and property issues.
-Northern Advocate
