14 April 2022
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Information relating to potential to use reserve land for housing
Enquiry
Through documents that have been provided to me I understand:
On February 15 the council had a forum for elected members on the 2022 housing work programme.
In it, elected members discussed a "Rotorua District Council Reserves (Revocation and Vesting) Bill".
I understand council officers proposed a local bill (the above) was presented to:
Revoke reserve classification of the below reserves
Vest Crown reserves in council
Enable the council to sell reserve land for the purposes of housing
Enable the use of the proceeds of the sale for reinvestment in reserve network and to enable housing
It was discussed it would take about nine months for the members bill to go through the parliamentary process, and a November 2022 enactment was anticipated.
The 10 reserves are:
Lee Road Reserve KO)
Coulter Road Reserve (KO)
High Street Reserve (KO)
Steele Lane Reserve (KO)
Turner Drive Reserve (part only) (KO)
Ranginui Street Reserve
Gallagher Street Reserve
117 Clinkard Avenue
Park Road Reserve (part only)
Linton Park West (16 Kamahi Street)
Elected members were told five of these would be for direct sale to Kainga Ora, with a potential housing yield of 79
Three reserves would be sold on the open market - potential yield 22 houses
Two reserves would be for Rotorua Lakes Council or philanthropic pensioner housing development - potential housing yield 25.
Elected members were told the Housing Minister had asked Kainga Ora to move its 2024 public housing commitment from 160 to 650. Kainga Ora was now engaged with the council and had "tagged" five of the 10 reserves and created plans for the reserves.
Elected members were told the Minister had also asked Rotorua Lakes Council to "stand up and be part of the solution"
In the forum, chief executive Geoff Williams said it was "pace versus local conversations ... can't have both".
He said if the council wanted to drive a lot of local conversations it would take time to investigate and "get people on board" and elected members and or the council organisation needed to weigh up "whether that is worthwhile".
In the document I have been provided it says:
"The more time that is taken the longer we have motels for emergency housing. It is important to drive housing solutions and as quickly as possible. What is being presented is a distributed housing model."
Local researcher and historian Ben Manley had identified mana whenua the council needed to talk to and there had been "limited engagement to date".
Engagement had possibly been discussed as for April / May.
Could the council please:
- Confirm, deny or clarify the above. How far along has it progressed? Has the bill been drafted? How much has its development cost to date (please provide GST inclusive figure and state what the costs have been for).
- Please explain more about this kaupapa - how were the reserves were identified and what will the process be? What from the above has changed or is incorrect?
- Why is the council pursuing this?
- "Kainga Ora was now engaged with the council and had "tagged" five of the 10 reserves and created plans for the reserves." Can you please explain if KO has created plans for all of the reserves or just the five it has "tagged"? What does "tagged" mean in this context?
- Is the above what Geoff Williams said in the forum? Does that mean the council did not intend to make the pursuit of this bill public until it was presented to Parliament? Will it not undergo local public engagement or consultation? Why / why not?
- I understand there are some rules around the amount of green space councils are required to set aside. Can you please explain more about these rules and how they work (or not) with the proposed bill? Would the proposed bill override these rules? Where would the council create other green space as suggested by the above ("reinvestment in reserve network")
- What is the estimate or total number of homes this bill could result in and how many people would these house? What type of homes would they be (ie single level, multiple, high rise, duplex etc)? How many bedrooms - two bedroom homes, one? Three? What kinds of homes would the Kainga Ora homes be - transitional, affordable, public?
- The council has not added to its pensioner housing portfolio in some time and some may see these as costly since it is difficult to keep rents affordable. Why is this aspect being pursued? Has the council costed its affordability as an asset/liability?
Subsequent from reporter:
An additional question for the council:
- What are the Treaty implications of divesting this land - does mana whenua have first right of refusal over it?
And can the mayor please comment on:
- Whether she supports this proposal and
- When she believed it the proper time to reveal the proposal to the public?
I also have spoken to Rotorua MP Todd McClay about this and his comments are below, provided to the council and mayor for the right of reply - same deadline.
Thanks again,
--
COMMENTS
Todd McClay
"It’s extremely worrying that these documents show the council is considering how quickly they can make decisions and that the people of Rotorua might slow that process down.
"The Government have dumped people from around the country in Rotorua motels, they can’t now take reserves away to house those people without deep consideration of what Rotorua people think.
"I’m quite worried that the council had no view on the use of motels for almost two years and now they’re rushing to find solutions to a problem they in part are responsible for.
"Given we’re so close to a [local] election, decisions like this, a bill before Parliament to take reserves away should be campaigned on and shouldn’t happen until after the council election later this year."
He believed people living near the identified reserves would be concerned the council was having “very detailed discussions’” with the Government over how to use the reserves.
“These people have no knowledge of it at all.
“The council and Government are almost treating them with contempt.”
He said the council and Government needed to be open and transparent and “stop making decisions behind closed doors that have an effect upon Rotorua”.
Asked if he saw any merit in the plans given his criticism of emergency housing in motels, McClay said the council couldn’t “drag its feet and say it’s very hard, and then all of a sudden rush to decisions that are going to have a big impact”.
“People are still coming into motels, that hasn’t been sorted out.
“We need … a sinking lid policy, so that people from outside of Rotorua are no longer put in motels and then we can deal with our own problem.
“I’m worried that if the council is now rushing to what they think is an urgent solution, the unintended consequence may well be worse.”
He said those consequences could include too much intensification and a lack of green space for residents.
“These are all things the public needs to be engaged with and to know about and to be able to talk to the council about.
“If you take reserves away, in the end, local people and their kids have fewer places to play.
“If there’s a trade-off here, the public needs to be involved with the decision, not the council officials and government officials.”
His “biggest concern” was that the documents suggested limiting engagement with the public “because it will be too difficult”.
“The council doesn’t own this town, ratepayers do. They have an absolute obligation to engage with them openly and fully.”
Response
From Jean-Paul Gaston, DCE District Development:
We can assure residents they would be informed and have the opportunity to make submissions on any proposal for consideration or decision-making.
It’s important to note that options and information discussed in forums, which form part of our due diligence prior to finalising and presenting proposals for decision-making and/or consultation, often change between the forums and any final proposals.
Housing is a priority set out in Rotorua’s 2021-31 Long-term Plan and all potentially viable options would be considered as part of ongoing work on multiple fronts to address the district’s critical housing shortage.
Any decisions around potential sales of council land would have to comply with Council’s open spaces policy.
Felix, you’ll find the Open Space Levels of Service Policy HERE on Council’s website.
Mayor Chadwick has provided the following comment:
My door is always open for Todd to come and get a briefing about the housing strategy for Rotorua that as our local MP we need him to get behind.
It’s very disappointing if an elected member has broken confidentiality for political gain. We are very focused on our priority – enabling more housing in our district – and when we’re expecting Government support to achieve good outcomes for Rotorua and Council also needs to do its bit.
This breach of confidentiality is presumably aimed at undermining or sabotaging what we are trying to achieve for our community. It also unnecessarily raises anxiety before any proposals are considered or decisions are made.
Forums allow us to discuss ideas and options and provide direction on matters that may then become proposals for us to consider and take to the community. No decisions are made in forums.
When or if we receive a proposal we have the opportunity to debate its merits, ensure appropriate community consultation and make a considered decision and I’ll form my view at that point. No decisions have been made.
Reporter also sought information and comment from Kāinga Ora and the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development. They provided the following responses:
From Darren Toy, Regional Director BOP, Kainga Ora – Homes and Communities:
Kāinga Ora continues to explore opportunities for housing with a range of partners in Rotorua, to deliver more homes as quickly possible to help meet the urgent demand for more housing. This includes working with Council on this potential opportunity which is still at the very early stages.
From MHUD (Jonathon Fraser, General Manager, Housing and Services Delivery):
Rotorua is a priority under the Public Housing Plan and while there is no specific target number for Rotorua public housing, there are approximately 220 new public homes under construction or being planned in Rotorua with the first of these ready in a few months.
The Government has extended the requirement that Tier 1 Councils apply the Medium Density Residential Standard (this includes Rotorua) that will enable three dwellings up to three storeys to be built on most residential sites without a resource consent, allowing the council to significantly increase housing supply.
Government is supporting investment in new infrastructure to enable more land for more affordable housing.
As part of the response to COVID-19, and working closely with Rotorua Lakes Council, the Government committed $55m to address congestion and stormwater constraints on East side and to enable future stages of the Ngāti Whakaue Tribal Lands Wharenui Rise development.
The Ministry understands Rotorua District Council (RDC) is consulting closely with mana whenua about any possible release of reserve land for development. We understand that no decisions about the possible release of reserve land have been made at this stage, but when there is a proposal, wider public consultation would happen.
But the question about the shape of and timing of consultation is best directed to the RDC.