DGA asks for help with asbestos case

Louise Taylor.
Louise Taylor.
The Dunedin Gymnastics Academy has asked its members for support to pursue a compensation case against its former landlord.

The DGA was forced to abandoned its gym at Willis Street and much of its equipment following the discovery of asbestos contamination in May.

The costs quickly mounted and the DGA has put its financial losses at $160,000.

With insurance not covering the losses because it was a slow deterioration rather than a sudden event which caused the contamination, the DGA had no other option but to seek compensation from its former landlords, Bruce and Barbara Maher.

''We have been attempting to work with the owner of our previous building since May when we had to move out immediately,'' DGA president Louise Taylor said.

''Unfortunately, we haven't come to a settlement and our legal advice is that the landlord has a responsibility to us.''

The losses have placed the sporting body under ''immense financial strain'' and the DGA executive ''feels it is not a prudent use of club funds to continue to pay legal fees when the owner has not even met with us to discuss the matter and has advised he does not accept any liability or responsibility''.

The DGA has appealed to its membership for help and to gauge whether there is the support to pursue the case through the legal system.

Taylor said the executive felt it was entitled to a reimbursement for the costs it incurred. The bulk of the losses were made up from the equipment it was forced to write off. But legal bills, cleaning and the cost to get the testing done and other direct costs all mounted up.

Taylor said the decision to ''go public'' with the issue was not ''taken lightly'' but the landlord had refused to accept any liability and only offered a small percentage of the $160,000 in costs.

''We are basically in the situation of either proceeding with court action, or walking away with nothing but loss,'' the executive wrote in a newsletter to its membership.

The club was forced to vacate its Vogel St gym when traces of asbestos were discovered at that facility in September, so it has been a rough year. However, the landlord at Vogel St has covered the ''full cost of the asbestos contamination''.

Bruce and Barbara Maher could not be reached for comment.

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