A group of Mount Maunganui residents' hopes of having an unfinished neighbouring building either completely demolished or finished rest with Tauranga City Council.

Labelled an 'eye sore” and a 'health and safety risk”, the building at 32B Rita Street has sat unfinished for the last five years, according to its displeased neighbours.

The unfinished building at 32B Rita Street, Mount Maunganui. Photos: Tracy Hardy.

Tuesday's council meeting saw the issue brought before councillors following a 24-strong petition submitted in January.

It requested immediate action on the two-storey dwelling, and petitioners also claim it is affecting the value of the surrounding properties.

But council look set to take no enforcement action at this time given the owner has now confirmed he will urgently address the issues raised regarding access to the building site.

Council's building and environmental services manager Tania Brittain, in a report to be presented to council, says the property has been the subject of a weather-tightness claim.

Last December the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment notified council that 'the claimant has settled the claim with some or all of the parties under Section 85 of the Weather-tight Homes Resolution Service Act 2006.

'The details of the settlement are confidential. A settlement does not necessarily mean the property has been repaired.”

Environmental Compliance staff attempted to contact the property owner in January to determine what, if any action they are intending to take with regard to the property.

In early February, the property owner referred council to Technologyworks Ltd engineer Sandra Hardie for comment.

Sandra confirmed on February 18 she was dealing with structural issues relating to the building and that she would be submitting amended plans to council.

Since then council staff investigated the current state of the building in relation to the petition queries, engaging the services of a Chartered Professional Engineer to assess any health and safety risks.

Comments on the petition include it being a 'disgraceful mess”, and a 'disaster waiting to happen”, while the neighbours directly in front say there has been no communication during the five years, leading to 'ongoing uncertainty”.

Chartered Professional Engineer Graham Cox, who visited the site on March 25, states that 'there are numerous structural deficiencies evident on the ground floor, but it appears, based on our visual inspection, that generally the building itself is unlikely to fail structurally or collapse (excluding seismic loadings) as long as it is not occupied”.

The report goes on to say the stability relies on the steel props remaining in place until other replacement structural elements have been installed or reinstated.

Graham comments that that site itself presents many dangers and that, at the time of his visit, the fence to the site was open and 'anyone, of any age, could have entered the site”.

But he concludes: 'It could be deemed that the building would be ‘dangerous' if it was occupied, but, as it currently stands, unoccupied, fenced off with adequate signage, it would not be.”

On March 31, council received an application to amend the current building consent issued in respect of the dwelling. The application is currently being processed and is due for completion on May 1.

Tania says with this in mind, council staff concluded the dwelling appears to be compliant with F5 of the New Zealand Building Code – designed to safeguard people from injury, and other property from damage, caused by construction or demolition site hazards.

Sandra told council on April 1 that the owner had confirmed he will address the issues raised regarding access to the building site. Furthermore, he will ensure that the building remains unoccupied, fenced off and provides adequate warning signage.

Council staff will continue to monitor the site, and based on compliance with requirements for occupancy, fencing and signage, no enforcement action will be taken at this time.