Photo: RNZ/Jeremy Rees
Two body corporates and Auckland Council are at odds over a 100-year-old Auckland tower that is set to be demolished this week.
On Monday, residents in the Normanby Mews apartment complex next to the Colonial Ammunition shot tower in Mt Eden had to be evacuated after the stability of the tower was under question amid Cyclone Gabrielle.
Council confirmed on Monday that the tower will be demolished, with action starting on Tuesday and lasting about seven days.
However, despite council saying the Crockers Body Corporate had done their residents "no favours" since Cyclone Gabrielle wreaked havoc, Crockers said it had no formal body corporate role at Normanby Mews.
Meanwhile, the managing director of About Body Corporates Ltd - the body corporate which does manage Normanby Mews - has also hit out at council, saying it has received "zero communication" from local government in the 72 hours after the evacuation.
Speaking at an Auckland Emergency Management press conference, council's Craig Hobbs said officials were "working at pace to get people safely back into their homes".
But body corporates had resisted the process, Hobbs said.
"On Saturday, we allowed residents into their homes to throw out perishable items and grab supplies," he said.
"Crockers body corp have done those in their buildings no favours during this time."
However, later on Monday afternoon, chief executive of Crockers Helen O'Sullivan said these comments "came as a huge surprise".
"To clarify, Crockers manages a number of units in Normanby Mews, while About Body Corporate is the body corporate secretary," O'Sullivan said.
"Crockers has no formal role with the body corporate. As a property manager, we've been receiving information from the body corporate and passing it on to tenants."
O'Sullivan said a Crockers staff member was also an officer of the body corporate committee in their own personal capacity.
"We'd appreciate it if the council clarified Hobbs' comments to ensure there was no confusion in this matter," she said.
Meanwhile, About Body Corporates Ltd - the body corporate who do manage Normanby Mews apartment complex - has hit back at the council.
"For the first 72 hours after council evacuated our residents into the Cyclone, we had zero communication from council. This was not good enough from our perspective.
"To evacuate people with no notice, into a storm, and then not communicate about when they could return home. We have simply pushed for communication,
"At no time have we worked against them. If asking questions is working against Council, we have no further comment in that regard," About Body Corporates said.
The shot tower is the last remaining 20th century tower of its sort in Australasia, and was built to produce lead ammunition as demand increased during World War I.
The Colonial Ammunition Company that used the tower closed in 1986. The tower has category one heritage status.