We warned council, say Wellington slip victims

Engineers, council staff and emergency workers inspect the slip yesterday. Picture / Mark Mitchell

A family forced from their home after a landslide above one of Wellington's dress-circle addresses are angry their concerns over a next-door apartment block were ignored.

Most of the 18 residents evacuated from four dwellings on the waterfront had returned home last night after a slip that sent tonnes of soil and rock crashing down the hillside above Oriental Parade and behind the new Waterline Apartments.

But Helen and Raymond Matias were told their two-storey home, next door to the apartment block, was still unsafe.

"We're pretty gutted," said Mrs Matias.

Mr Matias was in the house when the slip occurred and said at first a handful of stones came down.

"Then the whole hill just slid," he said. "The earth seemed to rise and drop as air escaped from under the soil."

Mr Matias said the five-storey apartment block - and a number of other developments on Oriental Parade in recent years - were to blame for the slip.

The council had ignored her and husband Raymond's concerns about the unstable hillside and the high number of building permits being issued in the past.

Wellington City Council engineers are still assessing the damage and haven't said yet when the couple will be able to return.

Council spokesman Simon Beattie said proper processes were followed.

"We are confident our processes were followed in regard to geo-technical work before construction started," he said.

Several thousand tonnes of earth smashed into the back of the apartment building at 342 Oriental Parade at 10.30am, breaking windows and piling into the basement garage and lower floors.

The fire service closed the road and evacuated 18 residents before another slip occurred at 12.20pm which crashed into the Matias' backyard.

Apartment residents allowed back in were told to stay away from their back rooms.

No one was injured in the slip.

Wellington chief fire officer Jon Graham said the cause of the slip was not known and the situation was still dangerous.

"It looks like a long-term event," he said.

Last week a house in Kelson was demolished after being undermined by a slip and at the weekend a slip in Sumner forced the evacuation of two houses.

- NZPA