Council, Kāinga Ora under fire
| Published date | 18 April 2024 |
| Author | Stuart Whitaker |
| Publication title | Te Puke Times |
Once built the homes will be handed over to Kāinga Ora.
In February Kāinga Ora announced that 24 public housing homes were to be built on four sites around Te Puke.
Gail spoke at the meeting but asked for her last name not to be used in this article. She bought a house in August last year, next to the development with her daughter Krystal.
She said work on the site began without any consultation with the community.
She was concerned about the impact on parking and visibility on the street, given its proximity to Fairhaven School and the use of the road by large trucks.
She was worried about a reduction in property values and had concerns about the potential for up to 40 people and as many as 22 dogs in the homes.
“I understand there is a place for social housing, but 11 two-storey homes that can’t cater to the elderly or the disability community or in that fact to a standard-sized family, makes me believe these homes are going to relocated tenants, homeless and maybe even used for rehabilitation.”
After the meeting, she told Te Puke Times that by the time she found out about the development, it was a done deal.
Krystal said demolition work on the old houses on the site began on February 29 — just days after news of the building of 24 homes in Te Puke appeared in the media.
She said she did not see any information about the development dropped into her mailbox prior to that. She said when looking for a house she was very selective and wanted somewhere that wasn’t in a highly populated area.
Another nearby resident, who did not wish to be named, said Western Bay of Plenty District Council had given consent, “but don’t want to be accountable”.
“That annoys me as well, that I can’t have my say and put my concerns across. Once it’s there it’s not going to match any of the other houses. I understand there is a housing shortage, but this isn’t going to match the rest of the neighbourhood.
“We should have had public consultation from someone — maybe both Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Kāinga Ora- but we weren’t and I’m very annoyed about that.”
In a written response, the council’s environmental consents manager Natasha Ryburn said the subdivision was granted consent on February 12 under council officer delegation.
The application was processed on a non-notified basis as it met the legal tests...
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