Statement from Tauranga City Council about former Bella Vista Homes development
The Chief Executive of Tauranga City Council has today issued a warrant to avoid immediate danger to 21 properties in the Lakes partially built by the liquidated developer, Bella Vista Homes.
The warrant has been issued under section 129 of the Building Act, and gives Council the ability to carry out works on the properties.
Following the liquidation of that company on 30 November 2017, Council launched a comprehensive assessment of all the homes, which has included inspections by building and engineering specialists. The homes are in varying stages of completion, and the assessment was to establish what needs to be done to ensure all of the homes in the subdivision are compliant with the building code.
This morning Council received advice from a geotechnical specialist that the properties need to be vacated from today. We understand that up to 13 of those properties are occupied.
Part of the reason for this urgency is the potential weather event forecast to hit next week. However, there is also a specific slope that is not retained, and that is a risk of failing. For this reason, Council has had to act urgently.
Council has attempted to contact all owners of these properties and is organising temporary accommodation for them.
As Council’s assessment of the properties is ongoing, we cannot go into further details but there are a number of issues that we are looking at.
A dedicated project team has been established to work on this matter.
This is a unique situation due to the insolvency and liquidation of Bella Vista Homes prior to the completion of the development and the decision by some home owners to occupy their homes.
Council acknowledges that homeowners have faced an upsetting and challenging time and is committed to supporting owners at this time.
The expert assessments on the properties are expected to be completed over the coming weeks.