An Auckland Council compliance officer is satisfied its Notice to Fix has been achieved. Photo: Dean Purcell
The owner of a West Auckland property with a makeshift shed built from plywood picked up from a construction site to house illegal immigrants may be allowed to keep the structures after all.
They were built without consent and Auckland Council issued a Notice to Fix last October after a visit to the backyard shanty town at the New Windsor property in October following a Herald report.
The Herald investigation revealed that up to six Indonesian overstayers had lived for as long as four years in the shed, a chicken coop and a dilapidated caravan on the property.
Auckland Council compliance manager Adrian Wilson said a council officer visited the property last Thursday to check compliance with the Notice to Fix.
"The officer was satisfied that compliance with the notice had been achieved, in that unauthorised plumbing and drainage works had been removed from the shed on the property," Wilson said.
Indonesian migrant workers are living in sheds made by themselves using plywood and in this dilapidated caravan. Photo: Dean Purcell
The shed was unlocked when the Herald visited the property and it still looked like it was still being lived in, with a grey towel hanging outside to dry and used instant cup noodles in a bin.
An elderly woman living in the main house said the property belonged to her son, and that the council had given them consent to carry on renting the structures out to tenants.
A previous tenant, Hendra Adijaya, an overstayer from Indonesia, had told the Herald that tenants paid the woman between $120 and $150 in rent to live in the sheds and caravan.
The woman told the Herald they did not ask tenants for passports or identity details, so would not know if they were in New Zealand legally or not.
Hendra Adijaya was found living in the shed when the Herald visited last September. Photo: Dean Purcell
Hendra Adijaya was found living in the shed when the Herald visited last September.
"We have been informed that the tenants will be moving from the property in the next two weeks," Wilson said.
"We will be revisiting the matter to ensure this has occurred, and if not, we will consider further enforcement action."
Wilson said the council has no authority to order the removal of occupants or tenants from a building except where a Dangerous and Insanitary Building notice is issued.
"This is an option that could be considered if the shed and caravan on the property are still occupied at our next visit."
A man who arrived at the property looking for one of the tenants while the Herald was there said the council's order for compliance had made life harder for the illegal immigrants.
"At least last time they have water to wash up, clean up and cook in the shed," the man said.
"Now they have to go to the common laundry area to do that. They still cook with portable stoves, but now it's harder for them to clean up after cooking."
The council said the plumbing and drainage work on the property was unauthorised. Photo: Dean Purcell
The man, who did not want to be named, said the tenants were looking for alternative accommodation - but it wasn't easy.
"When you don't have any identification or bank account, it's not easy to rent a property anywhere in New Zealand even if you have money," the man said.
"I think these guys are lucky to have a place like this one here to stay."
Agencies in New Zealand provide support for alternative accommodation to exploited migrant workers arriving on valid visas, but Immigration New Zealand (INZ) said overstayers living in the property did not qualify as they were here unlawfully.
A complaint was made about the plight of these overstayers a year ago to INZ by Migrant Exploitation Relief Foundation (Merf).
The report alleged the Indonesian overstayers had been exploited by a construction company that hired them to work on a site near the Auckland Airport.
INZ said it was aware of the report but could not comment without a privacy waiver from the overstayers.
- This story was first published by the NZ Herald.