Cyclone Gabrielle: Mt Eden apartment boss and council in furious exchange over Shot Tower evacuation

A body corporate chief has hit back at Auckland Council over criticism following evacuations with the historic Mt Eden Shot Tower being a threat to lives and safety.

Sharron O’Sullivan, a director of About Body Corporates, responded to a lambasting from Auckland Council’s director of regulatory services Craig Hobbs who indicated two body corporate administrators had been obstructive to emergency management measures.

In a Cyclone Gabrielle briefing today, Hobbs praised one body corporate boss, Wendy Baker, as helpful but named two others as not.

“Unfortunately I’m not going to be so complimentary about the body corporate managers of the other two apartment blocks from Crockers and About Body Corporates.

“They’ve done their residents no favours by working against us at every step of the way while we tried to address this issue for those affected with no consideration to the plight of others around Auckland we’ve also been trying to support,” Hobbs said.

O’Sullivan said in response her business was the body corporate administrator for Normanby Mews, 22 Normanby Rd near the Shot Tower.

That was one of the apartment buildings where people were evacuated due to fears the Shot Tower could fall, she said.

Work to demolish the historic structure will begin tomorrow, officials confirmed today.

“We were just asking for communications. They kicked our residents out into the storm at night and 72 hours later, we had not heard a thing. We tried to get ministerial support,” she said referring to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick and councillor Julie Fairey were also contacted “and Julie was very helpful,” O’Sullivan said.

“For the first 72 hours, we had zero communication from the 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,” O’Sullivan said.

However, Auckland Council’s regulatory services team said they have call logs of speaking to her within 24 hours after people were asked to evacuate.

It was incorrect to say there was no communication for 72 hours.

O’Sullivan insisted she didn’t have any contact.

“We have simply pushed for communication. To this end, we had a meeting with the council last week. We asked them to work with us. We asked that they apply a process incorporating practicality and asked for a connection with the human aspect of the situation.

“At no time have we worked against them. If asking questions is working against the council, we have no further comment. About Body Corporates has acknowledged that the council was stretched thin, however the residents were entitled to expect a better response and at the very least a better communication strategy,” she said.

She wanted to know how Hobbs thought her business had been obstructive.

Residents evacuated after the historic Shot Tower was under threat. Photo / George Heard

Around 28 people had been evacuated during the storm from the apartment building where around 48 lived. They had gone to friends, family and evacuation centres.

She wrote to the council pleading for information but says she remained disappointed about the outcome.

“I am writing primarily on behalf of the residents of the approximately 28 units that were red-stickered by the council, many of whom are in complete disarray and without proper alternative accommodation. This should be a high priority for council. I acknowledge that council staff are stretched thin, but this has to be the largest - if not one of the largest - displacements in Auckland when considering the neighbouring properties and the residents are entitled to expect a better response and at the very least a better communication strategy rather than checking the news for updates,” she complained.

Some residents had young families and were forced to seek refuge at evacuation centres without any alternative.

Helen O’Sullivan, chief executive of Crockers, said she was shocked by Hobbs’ comments and that they came “as a huge surprise”.

Crockers manages a number of units in Normanby Mews, while About Body Corporates is the body corporate secretary, she said.

A Crockers staff member was also an officer of the body corporate committee in her own personal capacity, she said.

“Crockers has no formal role. As a manager, we’ve just been receiving information from the owners and passing it on to residents. The residents and owners appreciated the communication from About Body Corporates. We’d appreciate if the council clarified Hobbs’ comments,” she said.

At today’s Auckland Emergency Management update, Hobbs said the two body corporate firms had resisted the process.

“They’ve done their residents no favours,” Hobbs said.

The Herald reported on February 13 that people living in about 50 Mt Eden apartments were ordered to urgently evacuate after high winds from Cyclone Gabrielle cast fears that the 109-year-old tower could collapse.

Auckland Emergency Management established a temporary exclusion zone around the Colonial Ammunition Company Shot Tower, prompting the evacuation, or partial evacuation, of several residential and commercial buildings.

AEM controller Mace Ward said the forecast high winds and weather conditions could cause the 30m tower to collapse, damaging surrounding buildings.

The evacuation order was made after advice from MetService and engineers, who undertook a structural inspection of the tower.