Thursday, 10 July 2014 15:30

Earthquake exemption welcome

Written by Pamela Tipa

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FEDERATED FARMERS says it welcomes exemption of farm buildings from the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill but remains concerned about the bill's implications for rural service towns.

"We believe there needs to be a lot more work to model the effect of an earthquake on the types of streetscape found in provincial centres," says new Feds' vice president, Anders Crofoot.

"Even then there needs to be a social and economic decision to balance a pure safety approach with a degree of pragmatism."

A focus on parapets, verandahs and removing at-risk items could greatly boost safety with minimal social and financial cost, he suggests.

"It is hard to disagree with the Property Council of New Zealand, which believes the bill could work, but only if earthquake strengthening is made tax deductible, qualifying for depreciation."

Feds says with an estimated 250,000 farm buildings in New Zealand, just assessing against earthquake standards could cost farmers collectively $170 million.

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