Residents in right to know plea as house demolition begins.
Work has begun in New Zealand to demolish one of the suburbs damaged beyond repair by the Christchurch earthquakes.
The eastern suburb of Bexley, which was home to hundreds of residents, will not be rebuilt.
The ground beneath Bexley liquefied in the first quake in September 2010, and did so again in February last year, causing houses to subside up to two metres.
A geotechnical review deemed the land unsuitable for rebuilding.
The government says 11 houses will be knocked down in the area in the next month, with more than 5,000 to follow in various other suburbs and new areas will be opened up for residents.
But as the demolitions began in the suburb of Bexley yesterday, a dispute arose over what those properties’ former owners have the right to know.
Christchurch East Labour MP Lianne Dalziel yesterday told TVNZ’s Breakfast: “There are people who are only just finding out their homes are going to be demolished this week, and I think that’s really not good enough.
“Some of those people have been out of their homes since September 2010 but nobody’s bothered to tell them it’s their house that’s coming down.”
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said he did not consider it reasonable to inform every former homeowner of the steps taken with the properties.
“With all due respect to them, I have got to say to them, ‘What do they expect?’ Once they have sold that house, their interest in that house has gone,” he said.
