Kāinga Ora pulls pin on Napier housing as community compares plan to 'slum'

An image showing the crown owned section on Taradale Rd where the units were proposed to go. Photo / Google Maps

A planned transitional housing development in Napier has been put on hold after backlash from the community.

The proposed two-bedroom units were to be put on 5a Taradale Rd, on a small Crown-owned section opposite the Gull service station and situated next to the rail line.

A group of residents from Sanders Ave, near the Taradale Rd site, sent a letter to Kāinga Ora on March 16 and within a day received confirmation that the Government organisation was formally withdrawing its resource consent.

The letter said the group was against the site being used for housing as they believed it was unsafe, especially given the close vicinity of a rail line to the section.

"We are thrilled that the huge risks they were willing to put the residents of this development in has been stopped in its tracks," a spokesperson for the group said.

"We are hoping that Kainga Ora can focus its energy on finding and developing quality housing that is desperately needed in safe residential locations, instead of taking the cheap option of high density slum housing on undesirable land which puts some of NZ's most vulnerable residents at risk."

A Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities spokesperson said that it will look at other site options in the meantime to fill the housing gap.

"Kāinga Ora is in the early stages of looking at different options for how the vacant land at 5a Taradale Rd can be best used to meet urgent housing demand in the area.

"While we consider our options, we have withdrawn the current resource consent application with the Napier City Council," the spokesperson said.

"We will keep the community updated as plans progress around the use of the land at 5a Taradale Rd."

Kāinga Ora has delivered 56 new state homes in Napier and 16 homes in Hastings in the last two years.

These are part of the extra 120-190 state homes Kāinga Ora will provide in Hawke's Bay between 2018 and 2022.