Penny Bright 'absolutely 'devastated' at ruling to continue house sale

Activist Penny Bright says she will do whatever she has to, to keep her house, in Kingsland. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Activist Penny Bright will meet Auckland Council in a final effort to keep her house.

Speaking to the Herald, the 63-year-old said she was "absolutely devastated'' after a High Court ruling dismissed a plea for interim relief - meaning the sale of her home by Auckland Council could continue.

"I'm now absolutely between a rock and a hard place after the judge has ruled that the agent sale can proceed.

"I've got a meeting at 3 o'clock tomorrow with Auckland Council to try and ensure that that doesn't happen."

The forced sale follows Bright's failure to pay rates and penalties for about 11 years, now owing the council about $69,000, or almost $89,000 when including legal costs.

Her refusal to pay her rates has always been about getting transparency and more accountability by those at the council, she said.

However, she was now prepared to do whatever it took to keep her house from going on the market.

"If under duress that I have to apply for rates repayments, so be it. But I have to stop the sale of my house.

"The stress is just too much.''

Today's ruling comes days after she revealed she is battling stage 3 ovarian cancer, which doctors have indicated is incurable and inoperable.

She said the stress of her house situation had gone "straight to my gut".

"I'm getting a huge amount of support from family and friends and increasingly numbers of the public, who understand why - as an ordinary citizen, I've taken this extraordinary stand."