25 July 2019

A few comments have been made about pensioner housing the council should have a right of reply to.

Age Concern said the situation of an older man made homeless after his rental was sold was not uncommon because of a lack of pensioner housing.

"They're the council's responsibility, the council needs to build more. The number of people owning a house when they retire is dropping, and with an ageing population living longer, there will be a lot of pensioners around. The 'grey tsunami' is going to come. Councils and government need to be ready." - is the direct quote.

Can the council please provide a response to the claim there is not enough pensioner housing and a 'grey tsunami' is going to come, including what the council is doing to address the issue, how much housing currently exists and whether more is planned to be built.

From Acting Strategy Group Manager Oonagh Hopkins:

"Like many parts of the country, Rotorua is facing issues with housing availability and affordability. Although not unique, our challenges are serious in terms of looking towards the future and the needs of our communities. Among the challenges is the increase in demand for social housing for older people.

"Council currently owns 152 pensioner units located across five Rotorua sites. These are a mix of one-bedroom units and bedsits.

"There is high demand for these units and applications are currently closed.

"Council's pensioner housing is not paid for by rates and are self-funded. Council has continued to lobby central government for funding to improve or increase these facilities, but this has been unsuccessful. In addition, Council considered selling the pensioner housing to a social housing provider to best ensure that it was a more financially viable and sustainable and that it could optimise central government funding, but in negotiating with social housing providers it became clear that the market value of the current stock could not be achieved.

"Since then Council has been considering the options available to them around providing for services that best meet the social housing demands within our district, this work is ongoing."

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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Eat Streat building

Initial enquiry: Not sure if this is something the council can provide help with or whether there is someone else I have to go to?

I noticed that lady Janes and half of Ambrosia are both shut off atm (well they were on Friday) and someone told me it was because there had been earthquake damage to the buildings/ that part of Eat St.

Can you please firstly confirm if that is the case and they I will have more questions?

Or if it's not the case, explain why they are closed?

Let me know if I should be asking someone else.

Subsequent questions:

Here are a few extra questions in light of the response, I'll also go to the businesses. Would it be possible to get some attributed comment please?

- When did the businesses close and how long are they expected to be closed for?

- When was building consent issued? What is its value and to who was it issued?

- When was the need for seismic upgrade identified? And do you have any figures like it is xx per cent compliant?

- Can you go into further detail around the work itself?

- Is there a risk any other Eat St buildings are non-compliant?

- Are other Eat St businesses facing similar issues? If so which ones and what timeline are they facing for remedial work?

Information provided in response to initial enquiry:

Building Consent has been issued to undertake seismic upgrade work in this building.

Council is aware that this work has started.

The work is being undertaken to increase the building's structural compliance with the current Building Code.

Also, just for your information, this work does not mean that the building suffered earthquake damage. Several buildings around Rotorua (and NZ) have been identified as needing seismic upgrade work.

Response to subsequent questions from Rotorua Lakes Council's Operations Group Manager Henry Weston:

"Building Consent has been issued to undertake seismic upgrade work in this building. Council is aware that this work has started. The work is being undertaken to increase the buildings structural compliance with the current Building Code.

"The owners of this building had a partial earthquake assessment done which was provided to Council in June 2018. The assessed part of the building was found to be earthquake prone with less than 35% of the New Building Standard (NBS). A building consent for seismic upgrade work was issued on 13 June 2018 to the value of $150,000.

"Council's previous earthquake prone building policy has been replaced by the Building (Earthquake-prone Building) Amendment Act 2016 which came into effect on 1 July 2017. This is a nationally consistent system for managing earthquake-prone buildings and changes the way they are identified, assessed and managed.

"Council encourages building owners to get their buildings assessed or provide more information when requested, or if they have an engineers' report, to provide it to Council. Once this has been received Council will then notify the owners of the building status and update Council records. If an Earthquake Prone Building Notice is issued, the building owner has up to 25 years to complete the work, depending on the classification of the building. (Profile or Priority)."

Currently Rotorua has 33 buildings listed as earthquake prone, the list can be found here:

https://epbr.building.govt.nz/register/search?location.town=Rotorua&location.region=Bay%20of%20Plenty&paging.index=1&paging.size=20&type=location

More information can also be found on Council's website here:

https://www.rotorualakescouncil.nz/our-services/building-and-resource-consents/BuildinginRotorua/EarthquakeProneBuildings/Pages/default.aspx

Or on the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment website here:

https://www.building.govt.nz/managing-buildings/managing-earthquake-prone-buildings/how-the-system-works/

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Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Potholes on Te Ngae Road

Wondering if this is an issue for council or for NZTA. I have emailed both but want to cover my basis and not miss you out.

This comes after a plethora of potholes opened up on Te Ngae Rd recently.

What is councils explanation for the potholes which opened up along Te Ngae Rd from the CBD and towards the Mcdonalds?

What is the process to fix these potholes, including how long does it take?

Does this process solve potholes or is this a temporary fix with extra work needed down the line?

What is the material used to fill in these pot holes?

Has this changed in the past 30 years?

What does it cost for the mixture?

What is the estimated cost for filling in the pot holes?

The reporter was informed that as Te Ngae Road is a State Highway it is looked after by NZTA and that agency will be best placed to answer these questions.

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