Condell Retirement Village in Christchurch: subject of a complaint ruled on in 2025 about alcohol in common areas.
A Christchurch retirement village resident in a group which complained after emails about banning booze in the barbecue area says no alcohol was drunk on the Christmas day in question.
Nor was the group barbecuing.
Jean Sparrow, a Condell Retirement Village resident, was one of five who brought an unsuccessful case against the owners and she told the Herald today she remains unhappy about that outcome.
The ruling from disputes panellist David Carden, published by the Retirement Commission, found against the residents and upheld the owners’ actions, although it also said a solution “may have been able to be found well before the parties became as polarised as they had”.
Rowland and Patricia Dunbar, Anne McDonnell, Jean and the now-late John Sparrow brought the case against Condell Retirement Village (2011).
At issue were emails sent by management following the Christmas Day, 2023 gathering.
The ruling said there was no evidence that identified the residents and therefore no basis to find they were implicated in what was said in those letters from management and says although the group wasn’t named “everyone in the village knows who it is. We have now got a divided village”.
Sparrow remains unhappy about the decision and events in 2023.
“We weren’t drinking alcohol. That was an assumption. On that day everyone around us was away from the village apart from one other couple.”
They decided it would be nice to go down to the barbecue area with drinks which were all non-alcoholic, especially as two residents had spent Christmas Day alone.
“We had an enjoyable hour on a pleasant late afternoon then went back to our respective homes for tea.
“We saw the manager walk by in the distance. Nobody came near us and nobody could have seen what we were drinking from 40m away,” Sparrow said.
Sparrow said last January her group was surprised and dismayed about accusations in emails sent to all villagers by relations manager Alison McCormick and a company director, Paul McCormack.
She acknowledged to the Herald that no one in the group was named by management but also complained everyone else in the village knew who was at the gathering.
“We were blamed in one of those letters for being responsible for making the alcohol ban permanent. It was really upsetting for us as we hadn’t done anything wrong and we had complied with the new non-alcohol policy,” Sparrow said.
“Our complaint wasn’t about the alcohol ban. It was about being falsely accused of drinking alcohol, bullying and boasting,” Sparrow said.
The situation was illustrative of unfair practices in the sector, she said.
“We should be able to live our lives peacefully doing what we enjoy, including having a drink of choice with friends for those who want to, enjoying a drink at happy hour which no longer exists because of the ban or in a common area such as the barbecue area. This is our home,” Sparrow said.
The disagreements were a prime example of how retirement village residents were disadvantaged when it comes to the formal complaint process against operators, she said.
The decision summary from Carden said the issues were whether the village operator/respondent had breached the occupation rights agreement of the residents.
That was to do with obligations under the code of residents’ rights by:
Carden found that occupation rights had not been breached.
Company director Paul McCormack told the Herald last month he was delighted with the decision, which upheld the actions of the owners.
It was a breach of alcohol laws for liquor to be served without a licence, he said. Yet that had been the case for many years, which the owners subsequently realised was illegal.
Asked why the village did not get a licence to allow alcohol to continue to be served in common areas, McCormack said the directors had decided against that.
But the dispute had cost $20,000, of which the residents had only been ordered to pay $2100 in costs, he said.
Asked to respond to Sparrow’s latest complaints following the ruling, McCormack forwarded that to dispute panellist David Carden.
“My job as disputes panel is now finished with the written decisions. I have nothing to add or reply to,” Carden said.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald‘s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.