The dangers of restricting access to residential housing following landslides

Following the damaging climate related rainfall events in Aotearoa in early 2023, regulatory controls that come into play during and after state of emergencies resulted in legally enforced, restricted access to more than 2000 private houses (Television New Zealand 1 News, 2023).

Many of these restrictions were placed on private houses in the form of Red Placards or Dangerous Building Notices as a result of landslides that either damaged or had a perceived risk of damaging the residential houses which could result in deaths or serious injuries to the occupants.

The purpose of these restrictions, which are applied under the Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) Act 2002 and 2016 Amendments or the Building Act 2004, is to ensure the safety of people living in the affected houses and/or the public and/or adjacent buildings. The impact on the occupants of the forced evacuation is, however, traumatic, which raises a number of important issues around both the process and the outcome.

This paper sets out the issues around restricting access to houses when property damaging landslides occur or are considered likely to occur and presents some suggestions as to how these situations could be better managed in future events. This paper draws from the authors’ experiences and observations in responding to landslide events across New Zealand, assessing resultant damage, and managing the removal of red placards from residential dwellings.