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JUAN ZARAMA PERINI/The Post
Neighbours can’t agree what to do about a leaning retaining wall between them and their downhill neighbours.
A wonky wall and townhouse owners who can’t agree on what to do about it has led to a judge taking steps to appoint an administrator to take charge.
Two of the four owners of the townhouses in Hankey St, Mt Cook, Wellington, went to the High Court to break the impasse over how they should deal with a retaining wall that an engineer thought was in danger of imminent collapse.
Dysfunctionality had led to an impasse, Justice Christine Grice said in her decision.
They are supposed to have a body corporate structure to deal with building and other issues but the body corporate hasn’t operated since 2021 because they could not agree on who should be chairperson.
Two of the owners wanted an administrator appointed.
But, unusually, the application to the court did not propose anyone in particular for the role, the judge said.
The suspect retaining wall was downhill from the property. The property on the other side of the retaining wall also had a body corporate.
The state of the wall was disputed but at least part of it was on the boundary line between the two, and abutted the neighbours’ right of way to Hankey St. The two body corporates disagreed about who was responsible for maintaining or fixing the wall.
Wellington City Council says it is for the property owners to sort out.
A previous Tenancy Tribunal decision said if the wall failed it had the potential to undermine the townhouses themselves, as well as blocking the right of way for the downhill neighbours.
An engineer’s report in 2018 said a modest earthquake or saturated ground behind the wall could lead to its collapse. Then it was estimated it might cost about $70,000 to fix the wall.
The block of four does not have a long-term maintenance plan or a fund for maintenance beyond the $4000 it currently holds, the judge was told.
Two of the owners said the body corporate was too small to afford an administrator. They wanted to try to agree among themselves and approach the neighbouring body corporate with a proposal.
However, Justice Grice said she understood that was attempted in 2018 when there was an angry meeting with the other body corporate where the neighbours stormed out.
LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff
A fence in suburban South Auckland has been identified as containing asbestos. The fence is partly owned by Auckland Council and runs alongside a public pathway and several private properties.
The judge said, putting aside that the members of one body corporate could not agree, it could fall to the District Court to decide whether the cost of fixing the wall lay with one or both body corporates and, if both, then what share each should pay.
The judge said it was a serious step to impose the cost of an administrator on a small body corporate but at the moment it was not operating as it should legally because it did not have a chairperson or had a general meeting in the past 12 months.
But there was very little chance of the owners being able to work together to resolve the issue of the retaining wall. The lack of decision-making structures also affected third parties.
The judge put in place a timetable to appoint an administrator, who it should be, and the scope of their work.
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