Source: Radio New Zealand
The policy may extend as far as banning types of wheelchairs. PANCAKE PICTURES
Some residents at an Auckland retirement village want to put the brakes on a policy that would ban any more electric vehicles (EVs) within its gates.
Fairview Lifestyle Village in Albany said it was concerned about the risk an EV fire would pose to the busy community’s residents and homes.
While rare, EV fires can be more difficult to put out than petrol car fires and the village said it was unclear who was legally responsible for managing that risk.
The policy was still in mediation, and residents who already owned electric vehicles would be allowed to keep them, but they were not letting any new EVs into the gated North Shore community.
As well as cars, the policy extended to e-bikes, e-scooters and wheelchairs.
Retirement Village Residents Association chief executive Nigel Matthews told RNZ’s Checkpoint this was the first case concerning electric vehicles that he had seen.
While the issuing concerned some retirement residents, he said it was great that consultation was underway.
“We have been aware that this has been an ongoing discussion since early February, March of this year and, unfortunately, some of these processes take a while.”
Matthews said concerns about the risks of EVs had seemingly been increased via the media.
“There’s been obviously a tension in the media – as soon as there’s an EV that blows up or catches fire, it’s on the front page. [If] it’s a diesel or a petrol car, you won’t hear about it.”
He said the issue was complicated by policies being formed after people had already moved in with EVs.
“Prior to people moving in, no policy on this. However, there’s obviously – you know – discussion that has occurred, and now they’re wanting to put in a policy, which would ban charging in your own garage and obviously underneath in the car parking area of the apartment.
“I get it, but you know, if the council imposed a sudden policy change on me and said, ‘You can no longer charge your EV in your own personal garage’, we need to actually change that. I would then want to engage in consultation and I’d want there to be some sort of resolution.”
Despite the decision causing frustration for some, he said the retirement village had acted properly.
“The law’s pretty clear – if operators change something that’s going to have a material impact on you, then you must consult. These operators have done exactly that.”
There was currently no end in sight for that consultation.
“At some point, there’s going to have to be a resolution at the end and you’ve got some residents that clearly want to be able to continue to use their EV.
“It’ll be like telling someone who drives a Ford now, ‘You can no longer drive your Ford, but we’ve got some Holdens you might like’.”
Matthews said, if the village wanted to look at also banning things like electric bikes and wheelchairs, they would have taken a broader look at the issue.
“I’ve seen the YouTube clips where things have exploded – either ebikes and EV of some sort that are being charged and then just caught alight… but I’ve also seen it with cell phones.
“At what point do you actually stop and say, ‘We need to have a bigger holistic look at this and come up with some sensible parameters?’”
Fairview Lifestyle Village said its overriding concern and objective was the safety of its 300 residents, as well as staff, visitors and property.
It said, in New Zealand, the legal responsibility framework around the safe management of EVs in residential care settings was completely undefined, so it had to define its own safety parameters.
It said it had taken a measured approach in consulting on and developing a policy to address the current technology and set guidelines for future advancements.
Fairview Lifestyle Village said it anticipated debate, and welcomed ongoing robust conversation to ensure that the policy ultimately implemented was fit for purpose and put residents’ safety first.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
