This old house is a disgrace and neighbours are furious there's next to nothing they can do about it. Hayley Hannan reports on an extremely unsightly problem.
Neil Harrison squelches across a Glendene reserve in his green gumboots. He stops and looks disgustedly at the house in front of him.
"There you go, that's what you're looking at."
We look at the abandoned house, a thorn in Mr Harrison's side for five years. Although the lawns are mowed, the house is in ruin. Grass grows in the gutters. Half the windows are broken; the other half are boarded over. Graffiti splatters the house.
The Te Atatu truck driver says the house is detrimental to the neighbourhood and is used by squatters when it rains. Ideally, someone should live in the property, he says.
"But there's a bigger issue with this house," he explains. "There's no standard that a house has to be kept up to, and people can do what they like. I think there needs to be a standard - a national standard for housing."
The state of the house has been raised with the Waitakere City Council and with the New Lynn Community Board.
Council staff have visited the property many times. The landowners are in breach of the district plan because the house is not secure and an abatement notice has been issued to them, says council spokeswoman Lisah Henry.
"The abatement notice requires the owner to tidy up the property. A 'dangerous and insanitary building' notice under the Building Act 2004 has also been issued that required the owner to board up the dwelling to prevent unauthorised entry," said Ms Henry. Mr Harrison labels the council's actions as "token".
Last month, he took the problem to his local MP, Chris Carter. However, Mr Carter was suspended from the Labour caucus and took two months' leave the following week.
Another neighbour, landscaper Jon Kuljish, has spoken to the landowner about the house a number of times. He uses the driveway of the run-down house to park his truck. He says although the house is "getting really bad", he has no problem with its state. The Aucklander contacted the landowner, who wishes to remain anonymous. He says he is trying his best to fix the house. "I'm not trying to be a bad person in the community. I'm doing my utmost best to get things done. It hinges on financial things and health reasons."
He explains that every time he tries to fix the house, he ends up on the back foot.
"Because it is open to the reserve, it has attracted the attention of street kids. They have smashed all the windows. Just when I started to get it cleaned up, they kicked down the back door and ripped out all the copper.
"When I ask the council for assistance all they do is come down with a heavy hand."
He says he's owned the property since the early 80s and has tried to put tenants in. "I put a property manager in but he didn't seem to care. What he puts in is druggies. When I got there, the typical thing was that there was a piece in the closet cut out, so they can store their drugs. It scares the crap out of me."
He's asking neighbours to bear with him while he does the best he can to get a quote on the broken fence, and then to paint the inside, fix and glaze all the windows, reinstall the plumbing and put in tenants.
What can you do?
The Citizens Advice Bureau says residents unhappy with a neighbouring house should contact the public affairs section of their local council. The bureau recommends persistence in maintaining contact with the council. If the council won't act, the matter could possibly be taken to the Environment Court.
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