Nelson flooding: ‘We’ve lost everything’: Owners of unsaleable, uninsurable homes in Nelson

By RNZ

It has been a year since severe weather caused flooding and extensive damage across Nelson, but some people are still waiting to learn what will become of their damaged properties.

A state of emergency was declared on 17 August 2022 after days of prolonged rain. The Maitai River banks burst, about 1200 people were evacuated from their homes and the rain caused more than 500 slips across the region.

A year on, 13 homes are still red-stickered and cannot be occupied, while 68 are yellow-stickered - leaving the owners in limbo.

Some say they feel forgotten about and want government help similar to that offered to people whose properties were wrecked in Cyclone Gabrielle.

Julie Ambrose visits the garden of her red-stickered home on the Tāhunanui Hills most days, tending to the plants she nurtured for close to 20 years.

“I’ve spent so much time in it that to see it all devastated and to think that we might never be able to come back here, it brings tears to my eyes.

“It is just a real wrench ... we love everything about this house, we don’t know how we can ever have that again.”

Her partner, Geoff Moffett, said about 1000 tonnes of debris came down on their property and their neighbour’s property last August.

Mud and debris behind Andy Kenton's house following the 2022 August floods. Photo / Supplied

The steep slope behind their homes, which was once covered in trees and vegetation, is now bare and exposed and studded with rocks.

Moffett said geotechnical reports showed to secure the slope behind both properties with sprayed concrete would cost about $6 million.

He believed they were in the same position as many people after Cyclone Gabrielle, with a home that was not safe to live in and remediation work that was unaffordable.

“We’re left with nowhere else to go, unless we get some government and council support, there’s no EQC [payout] that covers what we need to do or insurance because the house is largely undamaged.”

“If we don’t get some assistance, we’re left with a house which is basically uninsurable and unsaleable, so we’ve lost everything.”

Further along the driveway, neighbours Andy and Simone Kenton’s house is red-stickered and they have also been out of their home for the past year.

The Kentons have spent about $10,000 on geotechnical reports to determine if their house could ever be safe to return to.

Mud and debris cleared behind Andy Kenton's house. Photo / RNZ / Samantha Gee

“They’ve basically said that the only way to make this property safe is to fully anchor the top of the bank, and fully shotcrete the bank. For our property alone, that’s $4.5m and I believe another $1.5m for our neighbours, so it’s way more than what the properties are worth.”

With the unstable bank above them, their house remains red-stickered and the couple, whose grandchildren live with them, have agreed that they would not return.

“We own a business that we’ve had for 22 years and we’ve accepted an offer to get out of our business and sell our assets, to be able to use the money for either renting or purchasing another property.”

In July 2023, Nelson mayor Nick Smith wrote to the Government seeking help for homeowners where remediation was not economic, similar to the support offered to people whose houses were wrecked in Cyclone Gabrielle.

Earlier this year, Nelson City Council agreed to buy out two properties affected by slips from council-owned land, that could not easily be remediated.

“There are people that are badly affected from the August storms, who sit in nowhere land, not knowing what their future is, until the Government is able to answer the question as to whether they will provide support.

“I actually believe it’s quite straightforward. If it’s good enough to provide the support for people in this circumstance in Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and Auckland, then equally, the same support should be available for people in the same circumstances in Nelson.”

In a statement, Finance and Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Roberston said while the Government had been focused on supporting those in the hundreds of homes affected by weather events in the North Island, the National Resilience Plan (NRP) announced in Budget 2023 would look beyond cyclone affected regions.

A power line down across Andy Fenton's fence and some of the debris before the clean-up. Photo / Supplied / Geoff Mofffett

He had asked officials to consider the issues that Smith had raised in the context of the NRP and he expects to receive advice from them in the near future.

Smith said the response was disappointing and he planned to continue the political pressure on the issue.

But Nelson MP Rachel Boyack said the Government was committed to finding a resolution for the property owners.

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She said the August floods were one of the worst natural disasters Nelson had faced and it was difficult for those still out of their homes a year on, to be facing such uncertainty.

“For that small number of properties, where it could end up costing a significant amount of money from other private landowners to make those properties safe, we really do need to look at a buyout option.”

She said as with other natural disasters, there had been an agreement on property buy-outs and in this instance, they needed to be considered on a case-by-case basis, with clear criteria.

Boyack could not give a timeframe due to the complexity of the matter, but work was ongoing to find a resolution.