“There is a kitchen, bathroom and showers, and a building inspector and local tradespeople all advised us that it didn’t need anything done to it to be lived in as is.
“Subsequently, we moved straight in with a view to extend it and renovate, to turn it into a bit of a feature home.”
A report from MBIE principal adviser Peta Hird said in August 2021 the couple notified the council they wanted a permanent “change of use” for the building - to a dwelling - and believed it already complied with the relevant building code clauses “as near as reasonably practicable”.
Following a request by the council for evidence of how the building would comply, the couple made an application which included a floor plan and other supporting documents.
The council denied the application that November, saying the plans it had on file showed no kitchen, showers or laundry in the building, and these would need consent to be installed.
Taransky and Robinson had not shown “how compliance had been met for the relevant code clauses”, with one example being that the building was at 67% NBS (new building standard), the council said.
A notice to fix was issued in July 2022, which instructed the couple to stop using the building as a dwelling and apply for consent for any works undertaken without one.
Taransky said because it was “effectively an eviction notice” they had no choice but to fight it because they had nowhere else to go.
“We have not touched this building since we moved in.
“All the work that was done previously was either renovation by the Jehovah’s Witnesses or done through the gym by a licensed plumber.
“We have documentation for all of that. It seemed absurd that the council would take this position.”
Taransky said the council demanded changes but it could not identify what they were.
“It was just a ridiculous situation.
“From there, we sought a determination from MBIE.”
In the ruling, Hird said the council did not identify or provide details about the building work it considered non-compliant and the NBS index was “not an equivalent threshold for compliance”.
“There is no indication the authority carried out an inspection of the property before issuing the notice to fix or what other information it may have been relying on for the purpose of establishing the new use of the building,” Hird said.
“The notice is deficient because it does not adequately specify the ‘particulars of contravention or non-compliance’ as required by the prescribed form.
“This requires sufficient details regarding the building, building work, and alleged contravention(s), to fairly and fully inform the recipient about the basis for the notice so they can address the identified issues.”
Rangitīkei District Council chief executive Kevin Ross told the Chronicle the council would not appeal Hird’s decision but would consider reissuing the notice to fix “in a compliant form, bearing in mind the decision from MBIE”.
Building consultant Alan Light, who Taransky and Robinson employed to help with their case, said they had tried to do the right thing by engaging with the council.
He believed councils in general were too quick to issue the notices.
“They should really only be doing it when they have exhausted all other avenues and they are perhaps dealing with an owner who is in flagrant breach of the Building Act and is not co-operating at all.
“Owners are presented with a notice to fix and they are very, very scary.
“They have a $200,000 fine attached at the bottom, which obviously would only be applied upon conviction, but that isn’t how the average homeowner reads it.”
Light said MBIE should make a determination within 60 days but in recent years the ministry had redeployed staff for Covid-19-related work.
“Obviously, building problems don’t stop. Waiting two years for this decision has been terrible for them.”
Taransky, who operates fishing rod company Taransky Bamboo, said the Taihape community had been very welcoming since their arrival and the couple did not want to leave the area.
However, the issue had “taken a big toll” on them over the past two years.
“I guess it depends on whether we’ll get any more grief or if this is over and they’ll leave us alone.
“We don’t want to see anyone persecuted within council but I think changes need to be made.”
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
