Police and bailiffs evict Parnell lodge owner over debt
Wednesday, 14 February 2024
The owner of the Parnell City Lodge was evicted from the lodge - his home for 14 years - and issued a trespass notice on Wednesday.
Peter Van De Wiel, 78, said four court bailiffs and two police officers showed up around 11am and “gave me my marching orders”.
His eviction was the culmination of a five-year dispute between De Wiel, who owns the building, and the General Trust Board of the Anglican Diocese of Auckland, which owns the land beneath it.
The Board raised the annual rental, but Van De Wiel refused to pay it and has also refused to pay the more than $1million he now owes in arrears.
Despite the High Court finding in the Board’s favour in December, Van De Wiel maintains the Board has broken their agreement and the High Court judge made a mistake.
He refused to leave, and as late as last Wednesday said he’d have to be “dragged out”.
Van De Wiel, who has lived in the lodge since 2010, said he was now trying to find somewhere else to stay.
“I’m on the footpath just down the road at the moment. I don’t know where I’ll go. I might just live in my car,” he said.
Board chairman Angus Ogilvie said the board had become concerned about the operation of the lodge.
He said the lessee had been “repeatedly failed to take the actions required to ensure the building is safe and compliant, ignoring Auckland Council’s ‘notice to fix’, ‘dangerous building notices’ and the requirement from Fire and Emergency New Zealand to provide an approved evacuation scheme”.
“As a landlord, the safety and compliance of our properties is paramount and we have taken steps to take possession of the property to ensure the unsafe building is closed and secured,” he said.
The two-storey Edwardian style residence in the heart of Parnell, built in 1914 and later converted to a 21-room accommodation/apartment complex, has been providing emergency housing accommodation in mid-2018.
Information obtained under the Official Information Act from the Ministry of Social Development showed the lodge had received $2,632,691 in about 2300 Emergency Housing Special Needs Grants between January 1, 2018 and September 30, 2023.
The lodge became the source of complaints and concerns by locals after it began providing emergency housing accommodation in mid-2018.
The Parnell Business Association annual report for 2018/19 said the impact had been immediate with “wave after wave of undesirable residents introduced into Parnell, who preyed on the retailers or loitered around hospo patrons” and “many of the residents have drug or drinking issues, are out on parole or demonstrate their expertise at petty crime within hours of arrival”.
The Association’s general manager Cheryl Adamson would not comment on Wednesday.