Residents at waterfront apartments Scene One on Beach Rd in Auckland spent most of the long weekend without power and water. Photo / Michael Craig
Residents at waterfront apartments Scene One on Beach Rd in Auckland spent most of the long weekend without power and water. Photo / Michael Craig
More than 300 residents spent days without power and 14 hours without water in 16-level Auckland apartment tower.
Apartment owners claim there was a lack of communication from the building manager, despite them paying his salary and providing him with an apartment and carpark.
A property lawyer warns all apartment towers should check they have robust emergency plans in place.
Owners in a 16-level apartment tower who pay a six-figure salary to an on-site building manager and provide an apartment and car park for him are questioning why they didn’t have a pre-prepared emergency plan.
Residents at Scene One apartments on Beach Rd in Auckland spent days withoutpower and more than 14 hours without water over King’s Birthday weekend.
Elderly residents were also stuck on upper levels after emergency lighting in the stairwell failed after the 12 v battery powering it ran out.
On Saturday night their on-site building manager from Burnham House Ltd and Owner’s Committee chairman Ian Gibson called on Civil Defence for help.
Scene One on Beach Road, Auckland, was without power and water for two days. Photo / Michael Craig
Gibson said the two believed the Auckland Council-managed emergency response provider would be better equipped to assist elderly people on the upper levels than fellow residents.
But Auckland Council - which is responsible for Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) in Auckland - said it would not respond to a private situation that building owners should manage.
Jeff Fahrensohn of Auckland Council said building management should have its own equivalent of a business continuity or crisis plan.
He said emergency lighting was designed for short periods such as during a fire - and there should also be backup available.
Other similar apartment blocks use diesel generators for emergencies under their safety plans.
“Building management should be providing another source of lighting if people are still using the building.”
Residents of Scene One said the lack of communication from management at Burnham House Ltd was one of their major concerns.
“We heard nothing, there was zero communication,” one said.
A laminated notice from Burnham House Ltd was taped inside the building on Sunday, June 2, day three of the crisis.
“We pay for an on-site manager but there was no plan. It was other residents continually checking on elderly people in other apartments and making sure everyone was okay.”
Paperwork provided to the Herald shows the building manager is paid a six-figure salary, the $45,652 cost of an apartment, and $2,011.48 for an office and carpark.
The Herald hascontacted Burnham House Ltd multiple times by phone and email over a seven-day period but has had no response.
Scene One is on leasehold land. The leaseholder is Kupe Trustee Company Limited, managed by Burnham House Ltd.
Property lawyer Joanne Pidgeon said Kupe, Burnham House Ltd and the Owners’ Committee should work on an emergency plan together.
Part of the emergency plan should include an alternative way to communicate with occupants if the power is out for an extended period, Pidgeon said.
“Power is such an integral method of not just utility and building operation but communication. If it is out for an extended period of time, people lose the ability to communicate.”
Scene One was without power and water for most of the long weekend after a power board exploded. Photo / Michael Craig
Ian Gibson, the chairperson for the owner’s committee at Scene One apartments, agreed residents were “caught short” after an exploding powerboard cut services to the entire building.
“It has highlighted to us - and should serve as a warning to every multi-storey building in New Zealand - that you need to look at some sort of disaster recovery plan,” Gibson said.
“We were caught short and it certainly highlighted to us that we need to work through a plan in the next few weeks.”
