More space needed for families to start thriving

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Re: Build not fully compliant, July 27 story.

Here are some things for us all to think about. Resource consent conditions exist to ensure homes are built to a certain standard. This standard has been designed by experts to ensure buildings are safe to live in, and that the people who live in them can enjoy a reasonable standard of living.

People are in desperate need of houses. They are struggling. This is why it is even more important to set them up in homes where they can enjoy a reasonable standard of living! Don’t set them up to struggle again!

We need long-term solutions so these families can start thriving. Their kids need room to play. They need privacy. Safe driveways. Reasonable amounts of space between them and their neighbours.

If they’ve lived in motel rooms and cars, isn’t it even more important they stop living cramped and feel comfortable?

Making a section 23 to 71 square metres smaller than the minimum size for a residential zone, is a lot smaller. Families will still be living in tight spaces, with little privacy.

I wonder if I would get consent for this non-compliant development, if I was the applicant? Or do we ignore the standards just because the applicant is Kāinga Ora and they have a mandate to build?

Three massive homes on this section is too many. Scale it back so one or two families can live well, not three families packed in. Careful design and consultation now might save us watching another Kāinga Ora home get demolished, 20 years down the track.

And who, exactly, has the authority to declare the adverse effects of this development are “less than minor”? Do they live in this neighbourhood? Will they be affected? Who could reasonably state this without checking in with the neighbours and asking what they think?

If Kāinga Ora is serious about their mission to set people up to thrive, they would start consulting neighbourhoods, regardless of it being a mandatory requirement or not. It’s called respect.

Lisa Christensen