10 July 2018
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Overnight drop-in centre
Inquiry
As a follow up to their previous story a reporter sought an update on the overnight drop-in centre -
- Given Tiny Deane has previously told the council people weren't sleeping there, how is the rule against sleeping being enforced now?
- What is the expected time frame for getting consent?
Follow-up clarification sought by reporter:
- Are the council actively overseeing the night shelter to prevent sleeping as it doesn't appear it is being enforced?
- Who's responsibility is it to lodge the consent?
- Why the reports have not been completed already?
Response
From Kaiwhakahaere Maori Gina Rangi:
We totally support the work he is doing but as a council we need to ensure the building is safe for overnight sleeping. We think this is even more important given we are dealing with a very vulnerable group of people. We've met and spoken with Mr Deane since last week and asked that he stick to the agreement we had, to operate the facility as an overnight drop-in centre, not set it up with beds, until we can sort through the reports and work that needs to be done.
We don't have a consent application yet but Council staff continue to work directly with fire safety experts and structural engineers working on behalf of the building owner to complete the two reports needed to see what work is required. A consent application can then be made and processed ahead of the work being done and the final step would be a code of compliance. About a month ago we offered to pay for the reports to help speed things up. We've undertaken to process any consent as quickly as possible but the timeframe depends on receiving the two reports.
Follow-up clarification provided:
Regarding overseeing the shelter, see response from Gina: We've met and spoken with Mr Deane since last week and asked that he stick to the agreement we had, to operate the facility as an overnight drop-in centre, not set it up with beds, until we can sort through the reports and work that needs to be done.
Re who is responsible for lodging the consent - the building owner or operator
Re why haven't they been completed already - the reporter was referred to the people responsible for lodging the consent (ie the owner or operator) but the reports are underway.
Gina is leading this on behalf of the organisation as a member of the executive team, bringing together staff and resources from across the organisation to work on the homelessness issue. You'll recall she's given a few updates to elected members already on the work being done re homelessness, including co-presenting the homelessness action plan - I think that was late May. If you're interested in the homelessness action plan you'll find it on p67 of the O&M agenda from early June.
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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Pensioner housing
Inquiry
- What were the proposals provided by Accessible Properties and Habitat for Humanity.
- What requirements did they not meet (other than price mentioned in the agenda)
- Has habitat for humanity offered up an alternative proposal yet? If so what are some of the aspects of this which can be revealed?
- What are the next steps in the process?
- And what happens if the alternative proposal does not meet requirements again?
- Can you also provide me with a bit of background to this (doesn't need to be attributable). Am I correct in thinking it was because council currently operates the housing and is looking now to contract to an external provider.
Response
From Mayor Steve Chadwick:
"During the past year we've had some tough conversations about Rotorua's housing crisis which prompted us to discuss pensioner housing.
We have a shortage in Rotorua of all types of housing - from emergency and social housing to rentals and new builds - and council is working on multiple fronts to address these shortages. Ensuring adequate housing and support services for older people in our community is one important aspect of our housing challenges.
We want to see more and better pensioner housing and access to wrap-around health and social services. A community housing provider is better able to achieve this than a council - the community housing providers are social housing experts with links to support services and access to central government funding that's not available to councils.
Council has 152 units for older people but the demand is much greater than that. We've had to cap our waiting list at 50 and we can't know where others needing this type of housing and referred to other agencies ultimately end up.
Council has been exploring options with community housing providers and this will continue but it's very important we have the right provider and the right model to achieve the outcomes we need. As part of long-term plan decisions we decided to continue exploring potential options until such time as we have a suitable solution."
Additional info provided:
p35 of the 2018-28 Long-term Plan gives a really good background including the objectives (the 5 bullet points) and also shows the decision that was made by Council.
Proposals from providers and ongoing discussions with providers, including around criteria and requirements, are commercially sensitive at this stage but updates will be reported through the Operations & Monitoring Committee.
The process:
- Council called for expressions of interest to see if there were suitable providers who were interested and these were evaluated against our objectives.
- The community was able to provide feedback on Council's pensioner housing proposal through public consultation on the Long-term Plan.
Councillors were advised that the expressions of interest received were insufficient to be progressed but one community housing provider (Habitat for Humanity) has expressed an interest in continuing to discussion options and this is ongoing.
