When a damaged slope is partly owned by a local council and partly by a ratepayer, whose job is it to fix it?
Former police detective Marc Fraser has a tough case on his hands — taking on the Thames-Coromandel District Council over a steep hillside property he owns in Tairua.
"It's taken a toll on my health. We're out of income. It's been a real struggle so far," he told 1News.
His house sits on Paku Dr, which winds around the Tairua landmark of Mount Paku.
Like many parts of the Coromandel Peninsula, it's been hit by recent severe weather events, including Cyclone Gabrielle and last month's huge downpour.
He showed 1News the damage inside the property where the ceiling had come apart from the wall. Meanwhile outside, there were large cracks in a concrete platform, and supports had been erected to prop up the house.
Because of the damage, he's stopped using the house as an Airbnb.
Homeowner prepares for legal action after extreme weather leaves home at risk - Watch on TVNZ+
His concern was centred on a parcel of council-owned land between his property and the road below.
It's officially called a reserve, but it looks like an embankment.
"My issue is that the council embankment is falling towards the road, and my house is following it."
He wants the council to stabilise their embankment with a retaining wall, which would also help protect his property.
"My greatest fear, if this house falls, is that it will not only injure occupants in and around the section, it will potentially kill, if not seriously injure, passing motorists, pedestrians and the residents of the houses below."
Fraser has made several approaches to the Thames-Coromandel District Council, including a formal complaint.
The council dismissed his concerns and told him it didn't accept liability for doing anything wrong with maintaining its asset. According to the council, it took independent advice on his claim and was convinced it had acted fairly and shown a duty of care.
It said the main issue was what it called "slope creep" — a natural, deeper ground movement which was unrelated to storm damage.
Thames-Coromandel District mayor Peter Revell told 1News: "Mr Fraser is able to take remedial action for his own property regarding that slope creep to stabilise it, but the council does not see it as our responsibility to intervene in that way."
He added the landowner had raised his concerns a year ago, and that the council didn't believe the problems were related to recent heavy rain on the peninsula.
"I would be wanting to encourage him, as I would with anybody who's disagreeing or not comfortable with the process council has followed - to notify the Ombudsman and get the Ombudsman to look at it to see if we have been fair and reasonable".
Fraser said he was committed to pursuing his claim and was considering either an approach to the Ombudsman or taking legal action.
He commissioned an engineer's report, which, among other things, reviews images of the stormwater pipes under the road at the bottom of his property.
They showed cracks and gaps, which he argues were evidence of significant damage that the council should attend to.
"They're dysfunctional pipes, and it's not letting the water off the hill. The water runs down here like a river."
He also has the backing of John Kardas, a former building controls manager with the Thames-Coromandel District Council.
"That parcel of land that council owns has supported his property all the way through from the mid-60s until Cyclone Gabrielle", he told 1News.
"It's council, I believe, who have a responsibility to maintain the integrity of their parcel so that it continues to perform in the same way as it has done in the last 60 years."
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