A Whakatāne District Council initiative which aims to accelerate and reduce the cost of identifying and strengthening earthquake-prone buildings has received a positive response from building owners, businesspeople and property advisers.
A forum on Monday night drew some 120 people from the property sector, including landlords, retailers and other business owners, and representatives from real estate, banking and legal organisations.
Organised jointly by the Council and the Eastern Bay of Plenty Chamber of Commerce, the forum focused on the implications of proposed new legislation relating to earthquake-prone buildings. The Council’s Business Services Manager, Aaron Milne, says draft amendments to the Building Act 2004 will require territorial authorities to identify earthquake-prone buildings and give owners a maximum of 15 years (extensions of up to 10 years may be available for Category 1 listed heritage buildings) to strengthen their properties to at least 34 percent of the earthquake resistance capability required of new buildings.
“Initial Evaluation Procedures carried out by the Council indicate that many of the buildings in Whakatāne’s town centre will have to be strengthened,” he says. “That will have some significant implications for the commercial sector, but it also presents a partnership opportunity which would see the Government’s legislative requirements met, while ensuring that the viability of the town centre, and the community’s interests, are safeguarded.
“The Council has taken a proactive approach to the issue because we are in the unique position of being the owner, via the Harbour Fund landholdings, of much of the town centre area.”
A proposal put to the meeting would see the Council manage and the Harbour Fund contribute towards the cost of a geotechnical assessment of the CBD area, on the basis that a majority of building owners commit to funding the seismic structural assessments which would identify what work was required to bring their buildings up to the minimum earthquake strength standard.
“The Council has offered to co-ordinate and project-manage the seismic assessment process, which combined with the geotechnical study, would provide a very considerable cost saving for the commercial sector,” Mr Milne says. “That proposal was well received, so providing the required level of support from building owners is forthcoming, we will look to develop a project plan and coordinate the geotechnical and structural assessment work required from suitably-qualified engineering consultancies.”
A project team will be formed to manage that process, with representation from landlords, tenants, estate agents, financial institutions and legal firms. “The first step is to gain a commitment from building owners to proceed with the seismic assessments which will enable good decisions to be made about whether to strengthen buildings, or look for other solutions,” Mr Milne adds. “Given the positive feedback received to date, we anticipate that we should be able to proceed with the project early in 2014.”