27 June 2023
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Kainga Ora development
Enquiry
Following yesterday’s release from Kainga Ora re proposed Victoria St development, Daily Post sought more information from KO and RLC received the following:
I am working on a story about the public housing that's planned for the 0.33-hectare site at 40 Victoria St, opposite Harvey Norman, by Kaingā Ora. There is a conditional contract between Kāinga Ora and a developer and it is waiting on consents by to be signed off before the contract can go unconditional. There are around 500 public and supported housing homes in Rotorua under construction, or in feasibility and planning.
- Is there a resource consent with the council right now for the housing project waiting to be signed off?
- Is there a building consent with the council right now for the housing project waiting to be signed off?
- When is it expected that the consents will be signed off so that the project can progress and building can begin?
- What has RLC's involvement been in the 40 Victoria St Kaingā Ora development? What will the involvement be moving forward?
- Why is this project important in Rotorua?
- Any other comments are welcome.
Response
We provided the following, attributable to DCE District Development Jean-Paul Gaston:
Is there a resource consent with the council right now for the housing project waiting to be signed off?
No
Is there a building consent with the council right now for the housing project waiting to be signed off?
No
When is it expected that the consents will be signed off so that the project can progress and building can begin?
See above, no consent applications have as yet been received so we’re not able to answer that question.
What has RLC's involvement been in the 40 Victoria St Kaingā Ora development? What will the involvement be moving forward?
Council’s only involvement is as the consenting authority. As we do for any development, in that role we provide advice on consenting and related processes pre-application and then process any consent applications that are subsequently lodged.
Why is this project important in Rotorua?
Rotorua has a significant housing shortage and needs housing of all types, including public housing, so if it goes ahead, this development would contribute to helping to address that need.
Kainga Ora provided the following information requested by Daily Post in addition to news release yesterday:
How many houses are planned for the site?
We are working with the developer on their plans for the site and at this stage it is too early to confirm how many homes could be built. However given the good size of the .33 hectare site and central city location, around 30-40 small apartments are being explored.
What kind of homes will they be? Ie how many bedrooms will the homes be?
Apartments are being explored by the developer for this site
How long has Kainga Ora owned this site? When was the site cleared?
The site was purchased in February this year and the site was recently cleared by the developer
How long has KO been working with the developer on this particular project?
Since late last year
What are the all conditions of the contract? Is there a chance it will not go ahead? When will the contract become unconditional?
Once the conditions of the contract have been met, including the developer gaining resource and building consents, it would become unconditional. As with any commercial contract of this nature there is always potential for it not to progress.
Besides the developer, who else is involved in this build? Are iwi involved?
The design and build contract is between the developer and Kāinga Ora only
Do you have any drawings/designs which could be used?
Once more progress has been made these will be shared
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Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Draft Future Development Strategy
Enquiry
I am writing a story having spoken to Save Glenholme who have dropped letters to residents in their suburb urging them to submit on the FDS.
I have some comment I would like to put to the council for response please:
Hozumi Daiya, who signed the letter, said the group believed once high-density building began, the entire suburb would be “targeted”.
She also said there was a lack of clarity on where high-density housing could go, with errors in maps used showed different things.
She said speaking to me she did not think there was a need for high or medium density housing.
She believed aspects of the strategy were “misleading”: the council’s future growth predictions varied from government statistics.
(The prediction in the full draft was that the number of households in Rotorua was to increase by 7850 in the next 30 years under a high growth scenario, and was increased to 9740 when current demand and need for competition was factored in.
It says these numbers came from its Rotorua Housing and Business Development Capacity Assessment 2021, but the 9740 was described as being under medium growth predictions in it.
Daiya also noted the consultation document said the strategy enabled 12,300 new homes, which the consultation document said went over what the market was likely to deliver in that timeframe but allowed for more competition.
Stats NZ last December released population predictions for 2018 to 2048, and under a medium growth model it estimated 7400 more people in Rotorua. In a high-growth scenario, it was 20,200.
The council documents said 14,400 more people were predicted in the next 30 years, also detailed in the assessment.)
Daiya also believed the council was able to access the last two years of population data but excluded it. These years saw negative growth, with 300 people estimated to have left Rotorua.
If this had been factored in, she believed the growth percentage each year from 2013 to 2022 would be 1.14 per cent, instead of the 1.8 per cent the council listed in the consultation document for the 2013 to 2020 period.
Another example she gave of the strategy being "misleading" was that an artist impression of what looked like three-storey housing on Fenton St was placed next to information on high density, which could be built up to six storeys.
She claimed maps in the strategy documents were also inconsistent; one showed potential high-density housing reaching south to Devon St, while another Holland St, three blocks closer to the city.
Daiya said she told council of this and the online version had been updated to reach Holland St.
Potential high-density areas in eastern suburbs were also inconsistently mapped: the full draft showed streets in Lynmore earmarked for this, but in the consultation document it was shown as being centered on Vaughan Rd in Ōwhata.
Group member Judith Lewis said they believed high density housing in their suburb would push homeless further into it.
“For the past three years they have had to endure increased crime and anti-social behaviour as a result of nearby motels housing the homeless.”
There had been improvement, she said, but the suburb was still not as safe as it once was, and “the residents of Glenholme don’t want to live in fear and uncertainty anymore”.
The group believed the most likely to build up six storeys was Kainga Ora.
Lewis said: “Is it all going to be social housing? Potentially, that’ll be what it ends up as,”
“There will still be genuine hardworking people who need a step up, like first home buyers, but are they going to be the people who want to rent in a building like that surrounded possibly by people who do not necessarily have the same aims in life?”
Can I please have a response to the above, including the claims of errors and data being misleading.
Are there other errors in the draft strategy not listed above that the council is aware of, and if so what are they?
Response
From Acting Mayor Sandra Kai Fong:
This is about planning and potential future zoning across a 30-year period of potential growth. This will ensure that if and as we do grow, it’s in a planned and considered way and in the right places.
It is important to understand the draft is just proposals at this stage and once adopted, it will be reviewed every three years to ensure it remains aligned with growth projections as they evolve.
It’s great to see our community participating in consultation on the draft strategy – feedback is really important to help us in our decision-making and whether you agree or disagree with the draft, or parts of it, we want to hear from you.
From District Development DCE, Jean Paul Gaston:
This is an important conversation for the future of our community and we want to encourage people to have their say on the proposals put forward in the Draft Rotorua Future Development Strategy (FDS).
What’s proposed reflects what we know from data projections provided in 2020. We expect that over the 30-year life of the FDS those projections and the needs of the community will change, and the three-yearly reviews will ensure the plan accurately reflects those changes.
Information for clarification/understanding:
- The government’s National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020 (NPS-UD) requires all Tier 1 and 2 Councils to prepare a future development strategy (FDS) every six years and update them every three years. It also requires bottom lines for development capacity to be set, including competitive margins. Competitive margins are designed to ensure choice and competitiveness (affordability) in the housing and business market. Refer to the Draft Rotorua Future Development Strategy Technical Report for more information.
- Council has adopted population and household projections developed by Infometrics Ltd (2020) not Statistics NZ. Those projections were produced according to three scenarios – high, medium and low growth. Council has selected medium as the preferred growth outlook, using it for the Rotorua Housing and Business Development Capacity Assessment 2021 as well as the 30-Year Infrastructure Strategy and Long-Term Plan for consistency. We note that there is an error on page 16 of the full FDS and it should refer to a medium growth scenario not a high growth scenario.
- The Rotorua Housing and Business Development Capacity Assessment will also be updated every three years and will take into account changes to Infometrics growth projections.
- It is important to note that while the FDS signals where growth could be located and when it would likely be required, it does not actually rezone land. That would require interest from landowners and a District Plan change process.
- Despite what is proposed in the FDS, what actually eventuates is dependent on what happens in the market and what landowners and developers want and are able to do. Zoning doesn’t guarantee that height limits will be developed to their maximum.
- We note there are two errors relating to maps in the Draft FDS:
- Central map – proposed high-density area has now been amended to reach Holland Street instead of Devon Street.
- Eastside map – proposed high-density area will be amended to centre around Ōwhata shopping centre. - We are also required by central government through the NPS-UD to enable higher density development in locations with good accessibility and high amenity i.e. close to the CBD, good public transport and with existing infrastructure.