Dear Tasman District Council,

Pursuant to a request to TDC in January 2013 for information pertaining to mobility access for holiday rental accommodation (OAI Reference 356278 refers) and further discussions with TDC earlier this year in an attempt to determine TDC policy in this matter, I cited 2 examples of non-compliance which I considered relevant to the issue.
The property at 49 Aranui Rd was originally consented as residential and was converted for use as holiday accommodation.
TDC’s position is that the property’s primary use is as a home and therefore accessibility requirements would not apply
The property in Seaton Valley Road comprises - to quote Mr Bush-King -

“…several dedicated holiday accommodation units in the guise of dwellings on a single site. The primary purpose is not as a single private residence for holiday rental but full time multi unit holiday rentals – such as a motel complex, or multiple self contained chalets.”

A 4 bedroom dwelling, developed in cooperation with NMIT, was installed in December 2013 on the property of an existing vacation rental business for the sole purpose of capacity growth.

The owner stated at the time that the new building is non-compliant with accessibility requirements and the building continues to be non-compliant, with "a standard shower in a cubicle"

I recently requested TDC’s determination regarding the need for compliance with mobility access requirements following their investigation and have had no response.

Under which clause of the Building Act has TDC granted a waiver to the operators of this multi-unit tourist accommodation, permitting them not to comply with accessibility requirements?

Yours faithfully,

Tony Bach