After four years of living next to a burnt out house that tested positive for asbestos, a Waikato homeowner is desperate for someone to take responsibility for cleaning up the property.
Pukemiro resident Tara McLaren is concerned about her health, the health of her 12-year-old son, and that of her pets because the house has shed cladding onto her property.
"It terrifies me. I don't know if the wind's bringing fibres with it," she said.
"I don't know if it's safe for us to be outside."
The owner of the property is deceased, and the council said they’ve been trying to find someone to take responsibility for the property. It has now escalated the matter.
Waikato District Council chief executive Gavin Ion told Fair Go this week that it has started an abandoned land process for the property, after the rates were not paid for three years.
"Having the land declared abandoned would then enable us to take some action," said Ion.
"Because it's private property and unless it was dangerous, we don't really have the ability to do much."
Fair Go also tracked down the family member most involved with the house.
The relative has been trying to take ownership of the property, but because of the costs related to doing so, it has been "left in limbo".
"The rates are about 35 grand. To remove the asbestos it's going to be about 50 grand, and the sections worth about 120 grand, so you do the math.
"We tried to get it through lawyers and all sorts of things and they wanted 20 grand."
He said he tried to do something about the asbestos materials.
"I was quite happy to clean the place up but now it's gonna cost thousands of dollars, and at the end of the day it's not my responsibility. The house isn't in my name," the family member said.
Not a dangerous building
Ion said according to the Council, the damaged property didn't meet the definition of a dangerous building under the Building Act.
But McLaren is worried the property is dangerous. "Kids go up and down there every afternoon riding up and down on the footpath within feet of this asbestos cladding," she said.
"I thought that surely it wouldn't be allowed to just left in that state if it had asbestos in it."
Council had put some precautions in place to warn others, which McLaren said are "a joke".
"They've put up laminated bits of paper saying ‘hazardous stay out’ and a plastic orange fence which really does nothing."
While Fair Go was filming on McLaren's property, the plastic orange fence was falling down, and the signage was falling apart and unclear.
Since Fair Go got in touch, more robust signage and danger tape has been put up.
The problem started in 2018 when the house caught fire, a few months before McLaren moved in.
During a fire asbestos materials will crack or spall, meaning flakes of the material fall off and that's when asbestos particles can become airborne.
'Should have been remediated fairly urgently'
Fair Go wanted to know if those asbestos fibres had travelled through the air, and if there was any present in McLaren's home.
Asbestos specialist Farren Joinbee of Identify Consulting said in its current state the risk is quite low because the materials are mixed with cement which is largely intact.
"However it's the longevity, the prolonged exposure which gives it a medium risk."
"The fact that it has been here so long is very unusual and should have been remediated fairly urgently."
Identify Consulting captured samples from inside McLaren's home, the air around her home, and from cladding that was found on the front berm of the damaged house.
The official test results showed the cladding was positive for asbestos. As for McLaren's home and the air outside her property - those samples were both negative.
But she was concerned that over time, her house could become contaminated.
Farron said over time fibres can become airborne, which increases McLaren's likelihood of exposure.
"We need to get something done about it," he said.
It's unclear how long the Council's abandoned land process will take.
When council staff investigated, they were satisfied there was no risk to public safety because the asbestos material was contained on the property and not in a friable state.
Ion said it sought advice from the public health unit and it was satisfied with Council's approach.
As a further precaution Council also took part of the wall down that was closest to the footpath.
The cladding that Fair Go tested was on the council berm, which property lawyer Joanna Pidgeon said Council then becomes responsible for when dealing with the contamination on their own land.
Ion said that Fair Go's discovery of the cladding on its property was news to him.
"We have not seen any pieces of asbestos material on the berm when they have inspected the property."
"If someone finds it they should notify us and we'll do something about it," he said.
McLaren can only hope that something gets done sooner rather than later. Her life has changed massively while living here, she said.
"Your home's your sanctuary. It's your safe space and it's where you're meant to be able to go and be safe, and it's not that anymore".
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