"I have a duty to the community and as a taxpayer to make sure this does not go ahead."
Like his neighbours, he was shocked to discover the Mascot Pl properties were deemed to lie inside the Government's residential red zone, with its fate lying in the path of bulldozers.
"It was very sad, disappointing . . . we are shattered."
The outspoken right-to-life campaigner designed and built the red-brick home 45 years ago, with Mr Orr and his wife, Ida, raising their two sons at the property, which has a 2007 valuation of $429,000.
Mr Orr said based on 2007 valuations, Mascot Pl properties had a combined worth of $4 million, but he argued the taxpayers should be spared from dipping into their pockets as there had been "minimal property damage".
No Mascot Pl properties lost chimneys as a result of the quakes in September or February or the resulting aftershocks, and "liquefaction had been minor".
While residents in the wider suburb continue to dump silt on the road, and use portable or chemical toilets, Mascot Pl remains virtually untouched, with Mr Orr wanting to keep it that way.
"We are not in those areas ... we are just in the way."
Three official inspections of his home found cracks in the ceiling, stuck windows and a paint and paper job required to bring it up to the previous standard - at an estimated cost of under $100,000, he has been told.
Although his insurance policy would allow him to get a replacement house - a quality brick house with concrete floor even built from the original plan - he questioned the wisdom of destroying a liveable home.
Mr Orr said he had begun talking with his neighbours over planned action.
"I think there are people who will stay.
"We have been through all the earthquakes and will stand firm."
