Wrecker hovers over baches

Two squatters who have built their baches on a council road at the mouth of the Whangaehu River are on notice to remove their dwellings or they will be bulldozed.

The dispute between landowners at the Whangaehu River mouth and squatters who built baches on the land is making slow progress.

In September the Rakautaua Trust 9 gave the 14 squatters 100 days to remove their dwellings by December 8, because the landowners wanted to return to their land.

Trust chairman Casey Paki said a majority of the 14 squatters had come back to the trust and asked for an extension to Christmas and New Year.

They were given an extension to the end of January.

Two bach owners had dug their toes in and said they would refuse to go. However, one bach had been built on a legal Rangitikei District Council (RDC) road, and another was partially on the road, and on trust land.

RDC environmental services team leader Stephen Costelloe said the council had given notice to the owner of the bach on the Bach dwellers slowly complying with council

road, to remove the dwelling by January 31.

At the last minute, the owner contacted the council for a further extension, which was given to the end of this month.

Any septic tanks would also have to be removed because none had been given building consents, Mr Costelloe said.

Only one bach has been completely removed, and another two will be removed in two weeks' time.

Mr Paki said that as long as the squatters showed their intent to dismantle and leave, progress was happening.

Mr Paki said one bach had been empty for a number of years but locals from the Whangaehu area had moved their personal belongings in and used it.

But now those locals refused to take responsibility for the dwelling, and it was left to the trust to dismantle the bach, a caravan, a toilet and a surrounding fence.

The present squatters were under the misunderstanding that they had a lifetime right to occupy the land.

But Mr Paki said that was for those who signed the original memorandum which stated that the dwelling "would not pass to next of kin or otherwise".

Any other person had to apply in writing to the trust.

The original intention of the memorandum was that the trust or bach occupiers had to give 21 days' notice to the other party if they were leaving or being given notice to vacate.

Mr Paki said the trust felt that was unreasonable, so extended the notice to 100 days.

Each of those who occupied the dwellings was to pay a koha for being there, but a trustee said it had been a battle to get the money from some of the squatters.

The land came to the notice of QV, which wanted to re-rate the land because of its change of use.

Mr Costelloe said that when QV became involved, the RDC had to look at the dwellings and wrote to the trust outlining issues around building and health and safety compliances under the Resource Management Act.