Engineers called in by the Auckland Council have recommended the "immediate" strengthening of a dangerous church hall in Mt Eden.
St James Sunday School Photo: Tonkin and Taylor
But that was five weeks ago, and no strengthening has been done.
The heritage-listed St James Sunday School hall on Esplanade Road is in the middle of a six-year-long, bitter tug-of-war between those who want it saved, the Presbyterian Church, and a developer who wants to build apartments on the expensive land.
In March, the Presbyterian Church Trustees sent an extraordinary letter to the council warning that lives were at risk, and calling for it to evacuate neighbours and close part of the street, saying an engineer had found the hall was unstable.
Flats on the south side are within three metres of the hall, and the footpath to the east about five metres away.
The council instead called in an engineering firm, Tonkin and Taylor.
"The hall is stable at present and not in imminent danger of collapse," said its 20 March report, now obtained by RNZ.
It then goes on to recommend:
* "A steel prop be installed immediately under the damaged truss corbel support as a temporary measure to prevent further movement of the roof."
* That a solid fence, at least 2m high, be put up on the south side to stop any debris falling on the house next door.
* That the cordon keeping the public away from the hall be made more secure, as it has been just a temporary wire fence.
Last night, the council said it was "working through" these recommendations with the Church, but earlier said it was the owner's responsibility to do the work.
The Church said it would meet the council to talk about whether the prop and fence would protect people.
"As the Auckland Council is aware, there is a significant difference in the views of the engineers... We need to know we have an effective solution to the problem," deputy chair of the Church Property Trustees, Margaret Galt, said.
The cordon had been widened since they got the report, she said, adding they'd given the council permission to do a geotechnical investigation.
In the six years since the council slapped a Dangerous Building Notice on the hall, the Church has done nothing to strengthen it or stop water damaging it further.
In an Official Information Act response to RNZ, the council said in 2012 it required the owners to put up a fence to keep people away, and attach the notice to the building.
"No enforcement action has been taken," it said.
The Tonkin and Taylor report prompted this response from another engineer, Oisin Frost: "If it was 'stable' then why would immediate stabilisation followed by repairs be needed and debris fences be required?"
"This building poses an unacceptable risk," Mr Frost said.
He added a steel prop might well help, but the key was to put in a decent safety cordon as "after this is done, then we can take all the time in the world to debate the situation".
However, those who want to save the hall point out that Mr Frost was commissioned by the developer, View West, which has a deal with the Church to put apartments on the land. The deal only goes ahead if the hall's demolished.
A heritage architect has drafted plans for multiple apartments within a restored hall.
As for whether the hall is stable or not, that remains unclear. RNZ is aware of four engineers' reports, including Mr Frost's and Tonkin and Taylors', and all have relied on visual checks only, and not used the sort of invasive testing that can prove if a structure is stable or not.
The Civic Trust, which is party to the Environment Court case, said the hall was the first scheduled building threatened with demolition since Auckland adopted its unitary plan around who can develop what and where.
It said it was also a test case for how the government would respond to cash-strapped organisations, like some churches, struggling with new earthquake strengthening demands brought in last year.
Auckland Council said in a statement the "community expects us to do everything within our power to retain scheduled heritage buildings" so it was working with the Church to explore the options.
"We sought a purchaser for the property that will retain some of the original character of the church building, and unfortunately, it is not practical or possible to save every building," the Church's Mrs Galt said.
