THERE could be a silver lining following an incident where a turning truck clipped and badly damaged the verandah of TMP Fashions in Taumarunui several weeks ago. Ruapehu District Council’s executive manager of communications Paul Wheatcroft said repairs following the crash could hasten earthquake strengthening work already known to be required in the town’s CBD. The council’s initial involvement was concerned with health and safety and ensuring that there is no risk to the public, Paul said. “The council fenced off the footpath and had our contract builder ensure there was no further risk of verandah collapse. We are now working with the building owner to have the footpath cleaned up and restored to public use as soon as practical.” Paul added that under the Earthquake Prone Building (EPB) legislation many of the verandahs along Hakiaha St were ruled to be earthquake-prone, with building owners having been given 25 years to remedy this. “As part of township revitalisation, the council is wanting to encourage building owners to move quicker than the EPB legislation allows. “To encourage building owners to move faster than the 25 years allowed, the council is proposing to fund 40% of the EPB verandah replacement (60/40 split). “This incident provides an opportunity for working with the owner to replace the damaged veranda with a new earthquake-safe verandah. “We have had concept plans developed for replacing the earthquake-prone verandahs along Hakiaha St with associated cost estimates although these will have increased with recent inflationary pressures. “The owner has indicated they would like to continue discussions on working with the council on replacing the verandah under the 60/40 offer,” Paul said.
