Boy's injury may force demolition timing rejig

The doorway and a broken window at a derelict former state housing unit, where a boy was badly cut while playing on Friday. Photo / Paul Taylor

A young boy badly cut his leg showing off his kick-boxing prowess in a derelict Napier state house, forcing Housing New Zealand to rethink its schedule for demolishing the homes.

Masyn Ratima, 8, gashed his leg on a broken window on Waitangi Day. Found bleeding profusely soon afterwards, he was rushed to hospital and admitted for the night for surgery after severing a vein below his left knee and needing 12 stitches.

The incident happened in a derelict block near the Percy Spiller Ave end of Fitzgerald Park, Maraenui, and the boy's nan Alicia Te Au accepts she should have kept a closer eye on what the kids in the area were doing.

But she feels the community has been let down by what she believes is a relaxing of security by Housing New Zealand after emptying the two-storey units over two years ago.

Appreciating the irony of now wanting Housing NZ to hurry-up with the demolition of homes the community was not so long ago battling to save, she says it is a near-tragedy warning not only for families in the area but also for the government agency, which recently started the staged demolition of 33 of the area's buildings it considers to be earthquake risks and unsuitable for modern housing needs.

She says it is an area where lots of children have been playing during the holidays and there is evidence older people have also been "dossing-down" in the boarded-up properties.

"Security are supposed to have been patrolling and Housing New Zealand said there are alarms," she said.

"We need to be responsible for our kids, yes, but they need to be responsible for their buildings."

With some of the buildings already removed, the first in the new year having been demolished in nearby Longfellow Ave in the past three weeks, she hopes Housing NZ will reprioritise the order so that the Fitzgerald Park units can be removed as soon as possible.

Housing NZ area manager tenancy services Andrew Cairns said: "We are demolishing 33 buildings in Maraenui over the coming months. The first of the properties came down in January and we aim to have all properties demolished by the start of May.

"We will, however, investigate if the demolition schedule can be brought forward in light of this incident," he said.

"We are concerned to hear that someone was injured in one of our vacant properties," Mr Cairns said. "Security measures have been in place at the property to deter vandalism and people entering, such as the doors and windows being boarded up, fencing and daily monitoring."