6 December 2018

Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Ngongotaha housing development under consideration for special housing area status

Enquiry

I was thinking it would be good to do an actual story providing an update on the special housing area in Ngongotahā. From memory the last update was a brief in a Saturday paper in September.

I've contacted the offices of Jenny Salesa who basically said things were at the same stage as they were back then. And the office was waiting for information and a proposal from the council.

Could the council please provide me with an update from your end as to where things are at regarding the two Special Housing Areas in Ngongotahā?

Response

Please find our response to your enquiry as follows. Please note this is information only rather than quotes. It can be attributed to a Council spokesman:

Regarding the proposed Special Housing Area (SHA) in Ngongotaha which has been referred to the Minister, the landowner is still in the process of completing further flood assessments. Once these are complete, Rotorua Lakes Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council will review the assessments before sending them to the Minister. We are anticipating these soon.

We are not aware of any further progress with the second SHA.

Special Housing Areas are provided through the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act via Housing Accords which are agreed between the Government and councils experiencing housing shortages. The legislation was introduced to address the country's housing shortages and is intended to enable land be made available for housing more quickly than usual.

Approval of a SHA is the first step in the process. The land owner will subsequently need to apply for consent which will specifically address a range of issues including natural hazards and urban design.

Ngongotaha is an area that has been flagged for further residential development as part of Council's spatial plan. Extensive public consultation occurred pre-draft and then again on the draft plan. This was finalised and adopted earlier this year.