Two Moeraki home-owners had the sales of their properties effectively stopped when purchasers discovered a hazard warning report had been added to the Land and information management (LIM) reports on their properties without their knowledge.
This follows landslip issues in the area following heavy rain in May 2010 and the Earthquake Commission disallowing half the 28 insurance claims which were lodged.
Waitaki District Council Assets group manager Neil Jorgensen told the Waihemo Community Board that the EQC had urged property owners to undertake title searches to determine if a natural hazard notice had been placed on their property titles.
A draft red zone showing Moeraki properties where a natural hazard has been identified, has been prepared by Dunedin based geotechnical firm Tonkin and Taylor and the Earthquake commission.
Mr Jorgensen said in a report that the EQC had designed specific stormwater and land drainage works with the hope of reducing further movement and construction of these had started.
Moeraki home sellers Maurice and Angela Corish told the board they had been "totally upfront" with the buyers of their property, and had given them all the information they had on the property.
When the buyer discovered the addition to the LIM report which they did not know about, the sale stopped immediately, Mr Corish said.
The community board recommended that the Waitaki District Council be asked to communicate with Moeraki ratepayers and some indication of an expected timeframe for Moeraki landslip work should be given.
Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton told the meeting council chief executive Michael Ross would write to all people whose properties were in the red zone at Moeraki defined by the Tonkin and Taylor report.
There was no legal obligation to write the letter but it was a courtesy, Mr Familton said.
When asked after the meeting if the Moeraki landslip situation was too big for the council to handle, Mr Familton said that the landslip had to be referred to government agencies. Landslips had been occurring at Moeraki for hundreds of years, he said.
