It will be at least another two weeks before the extent of the ongoing residential landslip in Dunedin is known and even longer for residents waiting to return home.
It has now been a month since residents were forced to leave their homes in Motu St and Allandale Rd after a slip was discovered on an Allandale Rd property.
Earthquake Commission (EQC) specialists revisited the properties yesterday and discovered there had been more minor movements during the past three weeks.
An EQC spokesman said a total of eight claims had been lodged due to the slip, including from the six properties on which the Dunedin City Council has placed dangerous building notices.
Because of the movement, the specialists determined further monitoring of at least two weeks was required, the spokesman said. Further geotechnical work and inspection were likely after the two weeks. As the work might involve machinery and soil sampling, land stability needed checking.
The council and affected residents had been given new information which would be updated next week.
EQC technical claim manager Bradley Dahlenburg said the commission’s role was to assess the damage caused to the properties and settle owners’ claims.
It was up to the council to assess, based on information provided by EQC and others, the safety of the properties, Mr Dahlenburg said.
Once that process had finished and the appropriate repair strategies or settlement options had been determined, it was the responsibility of the property owner to decide how to proceed, he said.Everyone was working as quickly and efficiently as possible but the process would likely take some time.
Council building solutions manager Paul Henderson said staff would talk with those affected residents to make sure they had all the information they needed.
The dangerous building notices would remain in place until more information was available, Mr Henderson said.
