Palmerston North's Susan Baty: Council addressing housing shortage

An interior view of a council social housing unit in Papaiōea Pl. Photo / Supplied

OPINION:

Housing is a huge issue right around the country, and Palmy is by no means exempt from the impacts of increasing house prices and the shortage of housing stock.

As lead spokesperson for the council's housing portfolio and member of the Palmerston North Housing Steering Group that called the recent high-profile city Housing Summit, I am aware of the uncomfortable accommodation facts we face.

There are about 700 people in local emergency housing, and more than 400 people on the council's waiting list for social housing.

While council rezoning proposals are being progressed for more than 7000 new housing sections, planning is well under way for a range of other housing developments that include infill, medium density, and apartments.

Among the successful projects are the 46 Soho units on Pioneer Highway, and collaborations with community groups such as the Homes for People developments on Limbrick and Wakefield streets and Te Tihi's affordable homes on Botanical Rd.

We are also investigating further options for council-owned land – for instance, the three-quarters of a hectare former Terrace End Bowling Club site at 17 Summerhays St.

The council's preferred option is to repurpose this for housing, but we are seeking responses from city residents with details on the council website. Public submissions close on July 9.

We are also one of the few councils that still provide social housing. Stage three of the Papaiōea Pl development will increase our stock by 28 units.

It's thanks to the council's continued support for social housing that the award-winning rebuild of our Papaiōea Pl units went ahead – a project that attracted a central government shovel-ready Covid grant of $4.7 million.

Earlier this month, the Committee of Council doubled the social housing budget in the draft 10-Year Plan from $7m to $14m, so we are doing what we can with the resource share available to meet those expectations.

However, the council can't provide for all the need, and it's time central government played its part in meeting the growing demands in this area.

A further uncomfortable fact is that city rates will most likely increase by 7.95 per cent when they are set this month.

While the proposed increase is less than in cities such as Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington or Dunedin, this level of rise is necessary to meet the expectations of our community, while meeting the rising costs of delivering projects.

These projects include Nature Calls should this essential $400-$500m infrastructural development not be included in the Government's proposed Three-Waters reforms.

• Susan Baty is a Palmerston North city councillor.