Willy and Philly Wilson have been ordered to leave their dream home of 18 years due to a slow-moving slip the council says is too big to fix. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Willy and Philly Wilson have been ordered to leave their dream home of 18 years due to a slow-moving slip the council says is too big to fix. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Aged 68 and with terminal cancer, all Willy Wilson wanted was to live out his last years in his family's dream home in the Bay of Islands.
That hope is in tatters after they were ordered to evacuate their home of 18 years in Te Haumi, near Paihia, due toa slow-moving slip. Mr Wilson, his wife Philly and their 14-year-old son have until the end of July to get out.
The ground has been moving at the top of Hihitahi Rise, off Te Haumi Drive, for years. The Far North District Council says a catastrophic failure is unlikely but can't be ruled out, especially in heavy rain. Mr Wilson said the council's evacuation notice, which arrived on Saturday, was "a bombshell".
Any payout from the Earthquake Commission (EQC) was unlikely to come close to the cost of a new home, and he held little hope of being able to claim on his insurance.
"The council says talk to your lawyer, but we haven't got money to do that. I don't think they realise what it's like living on a pension."
Mr Wilson called on the council to stabilise the shifting section of road or fairly compensate his family so they could find somewhere else to live. He and his wife had worked hard and invested all they had in the house since buying it in 1997. It was her dream home and she was devastated.
They first became aware of problems in 2002 and received $68,000 from the EQC when part of the front yard slipped. Apart from one corner pile the house was unaffected, he said.
"If I was 35 I'd start again. But you can't do that when you're 68 and you're terminally ill."
Of the three homes which have to be evacuated, 86-year-old Raumoa Kawiti's is in the worst state. There are cracks in the walls and a large fissure runs directly underneath. Mr Kawiti said he was considering fighting the order in court. He did not want to leave because his children and some of his mokopuna lived down the street.
The Wilson's slip-affected home at the corner of Te Haumi Drive and Hihitahi Rise. Photo / Peter de Graaf
The council's district services manager, Dean Myburgh, said an area of hillside near the intersection of Hihitahi Rise and Te Haumi Drive had been unstable for years. Geotechnical engineers had now advised the council that three homes at the top of the slip were unsafe.
Engineering measures to stabilise the land were not practical due to the size of the slip, leaving the council with no option but to ask the occupants to vacate their homes.
There was no need for immediate evacuation but the risk would increase with wetter weather.
"We sympathise with these people and appreciate that this is about their homes. However, we also have a duty to ensure public health and safety," Dr Myburgh said.
At least eight properties in the area are affected by the slip, which covers about 10,000sq m and averages 10m deep. Earthworks in the 1970s are thought to have contributed to the problem. Two homes on Hihitahi Rise have been removed and the water main, which now runs above the ground, has ruptured three times. The road has to be repeatedly patched as the ground shifts.
