"We hate seeing buildings demolished and really want this amazing project to work."
Kiri Swannell, her husband Kevin and their family run a soup kitchen in Napier and have been calling for an emergency shelter. They were donated the Property Brokers Building in Hastings, provided it could be moved within a reasonable timeframe.
"We are in the business of taking houses that no one wants, shifting them to new sites, renovating them and putting families into them, so this project fits with everything we believe in. We are really excited about working with the Swannells to get this project off the ground," said Mr Tawhiti.
Relocate Homes NZ is a local, family-run business owned by Shannon and Hayley Tawhiti. It specialises in buying and selling of relocatable houses across the North Island.
In May this year one of Mr Tawhiti's companies, SHT Holdings was fined after moving houses without resource consent on to his own Hastings sections. Resource consent was subsequently granted.
Mr Tawhiti said he was excited to get the wheels moving on a "positive project" that will help so many Hawke's Bay families.
The Swannells said they are overwhelmed by the Tawhitis' generosity as they had received quotes of $100,000 for relocating the large building.
"It's absolutely awesome. We couldn't make it happen without the Tawhitis. We had budgeted $100,000 to move the building so we are so grateful and so pleased that a local Hawke's Bay company is donating to the cause," Mrs Swannell said.
The company will also store the building in an industrial yard until a new site is found.
"Most house-moving companies we spoke to said we would need land to move the building on to, so it's a huge relief that the Tawhitis are also going to store it for us."
On a scale of one to 10, the relocation job was considered a "10".
"It is a very complicated job because there are so many variables," Mr Tawhiti said. "It's two-storey, it's high, it's heavy and it's wide, so there are three main factors going against it. But we have successfully moved dozens of two-storey houses and have a lot of experience and very skilled staff."
To make the move successful there will be three to four weeks of preparation where the building will be separated into three parts.
"We also need to do a lot of bracing work to ensure the building stays in place when it is moved," said Mr Tawhiti.
The transporting of the entire building is expected to take three to five days. Mr Tawhiti said he has a large network of local tradesmen and businesses that he will call on to get involved. "This is an amazing charitable project which will give so much back to the community. We are so inspired by what the Swannells are doing and really want to make this happen."
A project manager is needed to oversee the project, builders are required as well as a crane and the big focus is on finding land, which is the last major piece in the puzzle.
Mrs Swannell said the Tawhitis have brought the givealittle target within reach and a new revised figure as to what is still needed will be released by them soon.
