Tide rising for baches at Taylors Mistake

Press, 25 February 1978, Page 1

Tide rising for baches at Taylors Mistake

Taylors Mistake bach owners have little more than a month to make up their minds about getting rid of primitive sewagedisposal methods. From March 31, the Christchurch City Council will face the issue of bow to deal with bach occupiers who either refuse to install electric toilets approved by the Health Department, or who baulk at terms of licences which would allow them to keep their baches for a maximum of eight years more. The director of the council’s housing and property division (Mr K. R. McNeil) said that many baches had changed hands since the demolition deadline had been set almost two years ago, and that this had complicated things.

“We are making new owners fully aware of what they ' are letting themselves in for,’’ he said. “A bach at Taylors Mistake is a diminishing asset, and an increasing liability as 1986 approaches.’’ One problem for some baches between Taylors Mistake and Boulder Bay was that they did not have electricity, and so could not comply with the

electric toilets mandate, he said. However, this problem had to be dealt with soon. New licence provisions for bach owners who want

to remain until the deadline make the occupants responsible for removing their buildings and completely restoring the sites when licences

expire. That will be a big job for many occupants, especially those without road access for carting away the remnants.

The land where such baches now stand will again become a public reserve without private buildings, leaving the cove open for development as a big city park.

Some bach occupants seem slow to concede that the City Council is serious about doing away with their dwellings. One beachside building which tipped over during a landslide in 1975 is still in the same position, an eyesore that no-one has bothered to clear up, although the council gave permission for it to be rebuilt until the deadline. Bach occupants pay only a yearly licence fee of $5O. If persons getting new licences leave the baches without removing them, there is a provision for liquidated damages to be paid to the council, which would have to do the destruction job itself. The baches are along the beach, on land that was declared a public road in 1911. between the high tide mark and the eastern boundaries of nearby private property on the hillside.