The petition
A landmark judgement which found that the "building consent process" was unacceptable and lays blame for leaky-homes firmly with local councils could mark the beginning of rate hikes as councils scramble to come up with the funds necessary to cover their inadequate and costly processes.
The judgement found council staff "were either untrained or simply careless, treating the approval of the specifications as a mere formality". It also said the evidence suggested "a wholesale failure by councils to face systematically and robustly the reality that without firm controls of standards, the temptation for developers to throw up cheap buildings of defective quality would be irresistible".
While the judgement was a win for those who have been unfortunate enough to find themselves owners of a leaky-home, it would be an empty win indeed if all other homeowners were forced to "pick up the bill" should councils decide to raise rates in order to cover their damages.
The win is expected to encourage more leaky-home homeowners to take direct court action against big-pocketed local councils - potentially resulting in other homeowners picking up the tab. Certain council members have already intimated that there is every likelihood that "...the poor bloody ratepayers will be paying. There is no other source...."
This petition has been organised in order to gather pre-emptive support from homeowners who feel that any future council move to raise rates to fund leaky home "building consent blunders" would be entirely unjust.
Please support this initiative and help us to ensure that ratepayers are not bullied into accepting the additional costs of incompetent property developers and an inadequate code compliance system.
Sign the petition
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