Jo Raphael: Rotorua's emergency housing pain can't hide in shadows any longer

OPINION

The Golden Mile, the Motel Mile, the Main Drag.

Fenton St - now dubbed by some as MSD Mile.

It's a sad reality that motels once used for Rotorua's manuhiri, are used to shelter our most vulnerable citizens.

The motels are neither equipped properly nor big enough to house people long-term.

The situation is a sore, left to fester and now we're in crisis.

No one can deny the pain caused to not only those placed into emergency housing but to the Rotorua community, which has had to watch helplessly as the sore has grown.

I'm not bashing those unfortunate whānau who have found themselves treading water in this situation - my heart goes out to them. They need help - and quickly.

Instead, I find my frustration directed at those in charge.

This week, with TVNZ's Sunday programme, this growing problem has been thrown into a stark national spotlight.

This is an all-hands-on-deck situation and in my view, sweeping things under the carpet is no longer an option.

The Rotorua Daily Post has extensively covered this issue since it became necessary to house Rotorua's rough sleepers during the first Covid lockdown.

It was initially a public health issue - the homeless needed somewhere to lock down safely and empty motels were a no-brainer.

But I have seen no straightforward plan to transition to the next step - the Government has essentially said this is the way forward for the foreseeable future.

And at a national level it's expensive - the Government has spent more than $1 billion on emergency housing grants over five years.

It has devolved, month by month, into a now shambolic, chaotic mess.

NZME's own reporting revealed things such as tenants housed in cockroach-infested units, having cold showers, and putting up with leaky roofs.

Tenants in one motel claimed they were threatened with benefit cuts - Housing Minister Megan Woods said she would investigate.

This is not, I believe, a Labour problem, it's a New Zealand problem - National sold off state houses when it was in power but instead of flinging blame back and forth, it's time for the Government to fix that mistake.

It needs to come up with better and safer solutions than housing people in motels. The public needs resolution.

Buy back some housing stock, and build better, energy-efficient homes as a matter of priority.

Get these families safely out of those unsuitable motels so they can be restored and used once again for what they were meant for - to host our visitors.