Provincial councils have expressed concerns regarding the cost to building owners of establishing official earthquake prone buildings.

Under changes to the Building Act, the Horowhenua District Council is required to decide whether buildings in the Central Business District (CBD) of Levin, Foxton and Shannon should be identified as priority earthquake-prone - meaning owners must strengthen or demolish within 7.5 years. Now, following budget concerns, the decision to identify Levin’s CBD as an earthquake priority has been put on hold.

In a release, Building and Construction Minister Jenny Salesa said she’s asked the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to give advice on the situation, with a report due back within the next two weeks.

“I’m confident the decisions we made are the right ones under hearings delegation, but I want the resolution to lie on the table based on the advocacy by mayors,” councillor Jo Mason reportedly said.

The report also quoted Horowhenua District economic development manager Shanon Grainger, who said meeting the requirements of the Earthquake Prone Building policy involves potentially large sums of money and considerable economic opportunity.