Bella Vista Owners Say Tauranga City Council Trails Chain on Negotiations

The owners of Bella Vista say that 43 days have passed since Tauranga City Council declared that it would buy their home and they do not know what it means.

The owners say that the public has the impression that the problem is solved. Deputy Mayor Kelvin Clout said the owners would receive news "in a few days", but that he could not say what the council was considering.

Clout was present when a Bella Vista owner Andre Stewart told Tauranga MP Simon Bridges at a public meeting today that the owners felt "totally isolated and unsupported."

MP Tauranga and the Leader of the Opposition spoke to a crowd of more than 400 people. Mount Maunganui College at the end of his 70-stop tour of New Zealand communities

Stewert asked Bridges what the government's responsibility was when a council failed its citizens and whether Bridges had a "duty of care" to these people.

Bridges said that as a local MP, he was in their

"There is nothing about what happened that is good."

He said that if the council had not agreed to buy their houses "they would receive a much harsher response from me."

"They need to buy your houses and they have to do it quickly."

"I'm waiting, as a local MP, for you not to be paid because of this that happens to you, that you put an end to this situation with He supported Paul Health's call for an independent investigation to understand why the council failed.

After the meeting, the owners told Bridges that they had heard rumors that the council was planning to offer. to buy back their construction contracts, rather than establishing a market price as if the houses had no flaws.

There would be no reference to bridges about what he would expect from the council as to how to buy the houses, saying he had not explored all the options [19659002] Clout said that he could not comment on this rumor or what the council was considering.

"I understand that we will make significant progress next week. In a few days, the owners will know more. "

He thanked the owners for their patience and said that the council was evolving as fast as it could, and much faster than that kind of thing would usually take.

A confidential meeting of the full council was called on Monday.