Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Cool-off period needed for half-RV offer

Lianne Dalziel
Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Spokesperson

20 February 2013

Cool-off period needed for half-RV offer

Gerry Brownlee must implement a cooling-off period for owners of red-zone commercial premises and bare land so they aren’t forced to accept the unfair half-RV offer, says Labour’s Canterbury Earthquake Recovery spokesperson Lianne Dalziel.

“There is nothing fair about the 50 per cent offer the Government has made to owners of insured commercial premises and owners of bare sections in the residential red zone.

“Families and business-owners are being rushed into decisions which could see them out of pocket by tens of thousands. We need a cooling off period which is why I am calling on the Government to extend the deadline, so common sense can prevail.

“The McLean family is a typical example. They have been given only three months to make a decision which will leave them out of pocket by just over $80,000.

“And that’s just the loss caused by halving the rating valuation – they are prepared to forgo the market value, which is what they paid for this desirable Brooklands section.

“All they want is to be offered rateable value in the same way as every other red zone property has been offered.

“They say that there are different rules for different people which is not fair.

In their email they said:

‘To add insult to injury, our neighbours in Brooklands who were approximately 4 weeks off finishing their new house have been offered the two buyout options offered to other red zone property owners despite not having paid any insurance (except builder’s construction insurance paid by the builder). This contradicts Brownlee's remarks regarding uninsured land owners not having paid any EQC contributions, as people with partially finished dwellings (such as our neighbours) have not paid any EQC contributions as they too were not paying insurance!’

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“Gerry Brownlee can’t or won’t say why the McLeans were treated differently from their neighbours or why a business owner who was fully insured will only be offered half the value for the land when someone operating exactly the same business from home would be offered 100 per cent.

“He needs to answer these questions. The McLeans are right there are different rules for different people and it isn’t fair,” says Lianne Dalziel.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.