A group calling itself Quake Outcasts will file for a judicial review in the High Court in Christchurch today.

Members of the 40-strong group own vacant and uninsured land in the areas made red zones by the government after the Canterbury earthquakes.

The judicial review is due to be filed this afternoon by their lawyer, Grant Cameron. The legal team also includes Francis Cook QC, and Dr Matthew Palmer.

According to local media reports in recent months, the group includes many people who were preparing to build new homes. Others simply enjoyed the space of two adjacent sections while some had inherited property, and others had acquired a section as an investment.

A few had chosen not to insure their homes.

The government singled them out for different treatment to owners of red-zoned land with homes on them, and which were mostly all insured. Vacant land cannot be insured.

Instead of offering them the 2007 rateable value of their property, they were offered just half.

The judicial review to be lodged today cites Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee and Canterbury Earthquake Recovery CEO Roger Sutton.

The chairman of the group, Ernest Tsao, says:

The minister’s decision to establish red zones was unlawful and obliterated their market value.

His decision as to who was deserving of compensation was unlawful and not for any proper purpose.

His decision sought to avoid statutory processes and to unlawfully drive down costs regardless of who it hurt in the process.

Mr Tsao says in a prepared statement that property owners have suffered terribly and the Crown acted with complete disregard for property rights and human rights.

c.hutch@clear.net.nz