Dilapidated hall 'left for a bit' but safe - council

Auckland Council admits a dilapidated church hall in Mt Eden has been "left for a bit" but dismisses an engineer's warning it could collapse. The council has blocked a developer who applied to tear down the St James Sunday School hall under a deal to buy the land from the Presbyterian Church. The Environment Court is expected to hear the case again late this month. The developer's engineer says the hall is unstable. An independent engineer disagreed with that but did tell the council five weeks ago the roof needs propping up immediately. The council's regulatory compliance manager Steve Pearce says that will get done.