A slip on London Road, Ponsonby, that opened up after heavy rains caused flooding and damage throughout Auckland in January 2023. Photo: RNZ/ Robin Martin
An advocate for storm-affected Aucklanders says abandoned homes are still a magnet for looters, even two years on.
Auckland Council has approved a plan guiding its use of storm-affected land bought from homeowners following the 2023 storms.
That included maintenance for houses which had been empty since their owners were forced to leave two years ago.
West Auckland is Flooding chair Lyall Carter, who had now moved to Maraetai since the storms, said it was great news for those remaining in flood-affected areas.
"The council said they would maintain the vacated land, that will be music to so many people's ears in flood-impacted neighbourhoods who have properties sitting beside vacant homes that have been the target, even years on, of looters," he said.
"Because they're in that neighbourhood the looters have even been targeting homes that are occupied."
He said residents living next to unoccupied homes had become victims by association, with looters trying their luck at neighbouring properties.
"We've had a number of people who have contacted us with video and photographic evidence of people entering the abandoned properties, looting those properties, and then going into their property," Carter said.
"It's causing great distress for these people. It's been reported to police, reported to council and as far as I'm aware nothing has been done."
Land that was too dangerous to be redeveloped would be repurposed into floodplains for flood resilience or folded into neighbouring parkland or bush.
Muriwai Community Association co-chair Clare Bradley expected that to be the case for the vast majority of buyouts in Muriwai, where slips were more dangerous than flooding.
"It's hard to see how any of it will be safe for redevelopment. This is not flood zone work ... It's the stability of the land and the vulnerability to land slips," she explained.
"Parts of the land may be suitable for uses that don't include anybody living or working on the land, but none of it will be suitable during future severe weather events."
She said the empty lots throughout Muriwai reminded the community of the trauma they went through two years ago.
"The process continues to be traumatic for the community, particularly for those people still living here who have seen their homes being deconstructed, the land being left empty," she said.
"It's also hard for the people who have lost their neighbours, part of their community. As a whole the community is still dealing with that, and I expect that process will go on for a number of years."
She hoped repurposing the land would bring some closure.
"Working to integrate the vacant land into the ecology of the area will help that process."
However, North Shore councillor Richard Hills, who chairs the policy and planning committee, said it could be years before all the land is repurposed.
"It's 'how long is a piece of string?' unfortunately, we're really trying to get for the next two years some clear direction and staff will be working fast on this, but there may be some projects that will take a long time," he said.
"So we will be maintaining these properties, mowing them if they need them, maybe planting them up if they're too dangerous to be left alone ... In some cases putting fences around them so there isn't poor use of the land or effects on other neighbours."
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