Fire and safety concerns have resulted in least 19 tenants of 155 Tenby St, Wanaka, being evicted from the house by the Queenstown Lakes District Council yesterday, after it obtained a court order accepting the building was dangerous and prohibiting the building's use as a residence.
It is not the first time the council has attempted to evict tenants from the building, owned by Wanaka Gym Ltd.
The company is associated with Dr Fiona Graham.
The media were informed of yesterday's eviction at 5.05pm.
The court order was obtained late on Friday afternoon, the council's acting corporate and regulatory general manager, Roger Taylor, said when contacted yesterday.
The council sought the court order because it held concerns for the safety of the tenants.
It had fixed a dangerous building notice to the former gymnasium several weeks ago, prohibiting occupation of parts of the building, and that notice had not been complied with.
A notice to fix parts of the building was also issued.
The order means occupation is prohibited until work has been completed to make it safe.
The required work includes installing fire-rated ceiling linings and providing adequate fire egress routes.
"As the dwelling currently stands, the council held very real concerns for the safety of the people living in the building," Mr Taylor said.
"Unfortunately, the owner has not taken the opportunity to rectify the situation and we have had no choice but to act."
The council had an obligation to protect the safety of all its residents.
The tenants were being assisted through social agencies to find alternative lodgings and were being encouraged to seek legal advice in terms of their tenancy agreement.
"They are the innocent party in these proceedings but we hope they would agree that their safety is paramount."
Every opportunity had been given to the company and Dr Graham to comply and it was unfortunate the situation had deteriorated to the point where a court order was needed to get the tenants to leave, Mr Taylor said.
Dr Graham was not at 155 Tenby St when the Otago Daily Times visited last night.
Attempts to contact her by telephone failed.
Meanwhile, issues relating to a previous court injunction obtained in 2003 have still not been resolved, Mr Taylor said when contacted yesterday.
In 2006, Judge Stephen O'Driscoll found Wanaka Gym guilty of contempt of court and fined it $5000 for breaching an injunction that no more than four family members of Dr Graham lived at 155 Tenby St until the premises were upgraded.
Mr Taylor confirmed the most recent court order resulted from a fresh round of notices issued by the council and did not relate to the notices issued in 2003.
