8 October 2020

Media: NZ Herald Local Focus

Topic: Memorial Drive changes

Enquiry

Reporter requested an on-camera interview with a staff member in regards to the closure of memorial drive as part of the Lakefront Redevelopment project.

Response

Council's Sport, Recreation and Environment Manager Rob Pitkethley was interviewed.

Interview questions largely related to parking availability (reporter said a member of the public had complained that parking was being removed from Memorial Drive which is incorrect as there has not previously been parking in Memorial Drive).

Mr Pitkethley also spoke about the wider Lakefront project which the Memorial Drive changes are part of.

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Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Rotorua housing shortage

Enquiry

I am doing a story looking into the housing situation in Rotorua and have the following stats and questions

Stats:

• The median value for Rotorua properties was currently $505,000, up from $445,000 this time last year.
• Rent has doubled in the last five years. The mean weekly rent in Rotorua was $431 in August this year. Rent averaged at $397 last year, and $236, 10 years ago.
• The average income is at a three-year low across the region, currently at $818 per week or $42,500 per year. Last year it was $833 per week and $43,316 per year, and in 2018 it was $826 and $42,952.
• The number on the Housing Register is 540 people in the June quarter compared to 464 in the March quarter.
• The number of public housing tenancies was 702 in June compared to 690 in March.
• There were 2,088 Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant approvals in the June quarter worth a total of $5.05 million.
• Despite there being fewer than the 2,633 grants in March, it cost more with the March quarter costing $3.85 million.
• The Salvation Army provided over 3100 nights of accommodation in their 11 units in one year.
• In 2018 (published this year) 729 people were classed as a temporary resident in a "severely crowded private dwelling".
• People are sleeping in crowded homes, cars, couch surfing and staying with exes as a result.

Questions:

• What is council doing to address the crisis?
• Will the council implement a limit on who can move to the city seeing as the growth is not being matched with new houses?
• Will more transitional housing be implemented?
• How does the information above resonate with what you're seeing? Do you have any examples?
• How does high rental burden impact a person/whanau in Rotorua? What sacrifices are you seeing being made?

*NOTE: Reporter indicated the above stats were collected from MSD, MHUD, StatsNZ, MBIE, Salvation Army.

Response

The following information and response was provided:

What is council doing to address the crisis?

Current council work that relates to housing and is underway:

• Housing and Thriving Communities Strategic Framework (also sometimes referred to as the housing strategy or housing plan), developed in partnership with Te Arawa and Central Government agencies following community consultation last year to gain input into a draft plan, and then more consultation recently to gain feedback on the draft ahead of the plan being finalised and adopted.Note to reporter: Please note, some actions in the plan are already underway. See also links and references to the strategy later in this response;
• Investment in infrastructure upgrades including wastewater, roading and stormwater is underway throughout the city;
• Council is progressing a District Plan Change to facilitate housing at Pukehangi (Plan Change 2, see more HERE);
• Council and NZTA recently received Government funding for roading and stormwater upgrades to support proposed housing at WharenuiNote to reporter: this has been reported on by the Daily Post a couple of times. This funding came through application to Crown Infrastructure Partners (CIP);
• Council is collaborating with Tatau Pounamu Collective on an eastside locality plan that will address the future needs and aspirations of communities there (see more about that HERE);
• Long-term infrastructure planning is underway (Infrastructure GM Stavros Michael presented to elected members at 3 Sept Operations & Monitoring Committee meeting - see presentation slides HERE);
• Climate Action Plan (this includes infrastructure resilience planning/actions - plan was presented at O&M 3 Sept, see more HERE);
• Healthy Homes initiative ongoing (see more about that HERE).Note to reporter: we encourage you to familiarise yourself with the housing strategy which outlines how Council, iwi and Central Government agencies plan to address Rotorua's housing shortage and oncludes work that is already underway. See links below to e-book and pdf versions of the strategy.Housing Strategy (e-book)(External link)Housing Strategy (pdf)(External link)Will the council implement a limit on who can move to the city seeing as the growth is not being matched with new houses? Note to reporter: this is not a relevant question because councils have no authority to do this.Will more transitional housing be implemented?Note to reporter: This is a question for Kāinga Ora which is the agency responsible for the provision of public housing. See references to emergency, transitional and social housing in the housing strategy objectives (pages 15-18) and in the section re work programme (starts p21 of the strategy)Also, the Daily Post has previously reported on plans for more transitional housing (see here from July 2020 - https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503438&objectid=12346547And see here from June this year re the housing strategy - https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503438&objectid=12339472How does the information above resonate with what you're seeing? Do you have any examples? This can be attributed to Strategy Group Manager Jean-Paul Gaston:Council is very motivated to get more housing in Rotorua. Housing shortages are a challenge throughout New Zealand and in Rotorua we need more housing of all types and have successfully lobbied for Central Government support to address this issue locally.No single organisation or agency can solve this issue. We have always said it will require a collective response and we partnered with Te Arawa and Government's agencies to develop a plan, with input from key stakeholders and the wider community.We also recognise it is not just about building houses so the Housing and Thriving Communities Strategic Framework seeks to address our local housing shortage from multiple aspects, with multiple parties committed to a wide variety of actions. Council's role includes investing in infrastructure, district plan changes and locality planning with communities to enable housing, working with developers, and working with relevant agencies, organisations and others to ensure homes are healthy and that we create connected, safe, resilient communities rather than just build houses.How does high rental burden impact a person/whanau in Rotorua? What sacrifices are you seeing being made? Note to reporter: this is not a question for Council but agencies, social services and organisations that may be dealing with people impacted by rental prices may have some insight for you (eg MSD, Salvation Army, Budget Advice).