Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
Flood and landslide-affected Aucklanders worry they could be forced out of their communities if Auckland Council proceeds with buyouts based on its valuations.
At Thursday's governing body meeting, owners of category 3 homes - those deemed too unsafe to live in due to future flooding risks - told councillors that buyout offers based on council rates valuations would be too low for owners to afford new homes in their existing communities.
Muriwai resident Caroline Bell-Booth was one of the first people to evacuate their homes when Cyclone Gabrielle hit the region in February. She and her neighbours had supported each other through "unrelenting mental and physical pressure", she said.
But Bell-Booth feared that support system could be torn apart if owners of category 3 homes were forced to move away.
"Muriwai is a community that is self-supporting," she said. "A palpable fear is that a category 3 designation may exclude us from the community that has held us close through this time."
Fellow resident Abe Dew explained there were two options for how council could value properties for buyouts: the fastest would be to base the offer on a property's rates valuation, but Dew said market valuations would be more accurate.
"The fear is that offers below the current rates valuation will prohibit us from buying back into our communities," he said. "It'll mean that we're not allowed to be part of the community where we have contributed and from which we gain strength."
Dew urged councillors to make the process as transparent as possible.
"The more engagement and transparency, the greater trust in the process affected property owners will have. Robust categorisations that are transparent are less likely to be challenged and are more likely to result in win-win solutions."
Muriwai residents were still in grief over the loss of their homes and valued community members, including two firefighters who died while attending a slip during the cyclone, Bell-Booth said.
Firefighters Dave van Zwanenberg (left) and Craig Stevens, who died after getting trapped in a slip in Auckland's Muriwai during Cyclone Gabrielle in February, 2023. Photo: Supplied
"[The fire brigade] advised us to evacuate, that was the last time my husband and I would see our friends Dave van Zwanenberg and Craig Stevens," she recalled.
"By 4am the next morning we would learn that one was dead and one was likely to not make it."
Homeowners with category 2 properties were in a similar position, Piha resident Nina Mardell told Auckland Council.
"In many instances, homeowners are being offered far less by Earthquake Commission than what the actual repair costs are for their properties."
Private insurers presented even more challenges, Mardell said.
She said IAG had announced it was starting to back away from reinsuring category 2 home.
However, IAG said that was incorrect.
In a recent statement, it said: "Customers with properties confirmed in Category 2P or 2C - managed risk, may see changes to their insurance to reflect the risk of damage from future severe weather events, including to the premium and excess. Any changes will be made at the policy's next renewal and are part of our normal process to evaluate the risk, then determine the terms and conditions for any insurance cover provided, as we do throughout New Zealand."
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Bell-Booth asked Auckland Council to use its influence to put pressure on insurers.
"We'd like a homeowner and council-centric buyout process where owners can deal directly with council rather than with multiple agencies," she said.
"So council and homeowners engage in one complete transaction, leaving council to use its power and influence to pressure what we as individuals have encountered as recalcitrant and reluctant insurance companies."
Mayor Wayne Brown said he would take residents' concerns into account as council finalised its buyout policy.
"I got up early this morning to attend a meeting where we considered many of the things you're talking about," he said.
"We're working through the policy settings right now, they're quite tricky, and the government's in the middle of a blimmin' election, so I don't even know who to talk to."
"We want to be fair to you, we're absolutely taking your views into account."