Kerikeri social housing plans on hold, community group says

Just under 800 people crowded into the Turner Centre on May 3 for a public meeting about planned social housing in Kerikeri. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A company planning to build controversial high-density social housing in central Kerikeri has put the development on hold, a community group says.

Earlier this year Gemscott applied for consent to build a three-storey apartment block and eight duplex townhouses on two Clark Rd sections owned by Kāinga Ora (formerly Housing NZ).

The plans sparked what is thought to be the biggest public meeting in Kerikeri history, with just under 800 people crowding into the Turner Centre and another 375 following the discussion online.

Now, however, it appears Kāinga Ora and Gemscott may be rethinking their plans.

Annika Dickey, chairwoman of Our Kerikeri, said the Far North District Council told the group the consent process for 3-5 Clark Rd had been put on hold, at Gemscott’s request, on May 11, a week after the public meeting.

Kāinga Ora confirmed to the Advocate that the resource consent was on hold pending a redesign.

Dickey said the group had also met Kāinga Ora regional director Jeff Murray and Justine Smith of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

During that meeting, the group emphasised the community’s “overwhelming support” for addressing homelessness and housing affordability but said many Kerikeri residents were concerned about Kāinga Ora’s proposed solutions.

Those concerns included density, lack of green space for residents, the loss of already scarce commercial land in the town centre, risks to the community’s “cultural, economic and social wellbeing”, and effects on a planned CBD ring road.

Dickey said the group had proposed a redesign with reduced density, a mix of social and affordable homes, and altering the design to allow the ground level to be converted into shopfronts in future.

While Murray did not commit to Our Kerikeri’s proposals, he said he was willing to consider them and would come back with an answer.

The group realised design changes at this stage could affect financial outcomes for Gemscott and Kāinga Ora, but both organisations should have contingency plans in place in case their current applications were unsuccessful, she said.

An application by property development company Gemscott to build a three-storey apartment block and 12 townhouses on Clark Rd, Kerikeri, has been put on hold.

Our Kerikeri trustee Vince Buxton said the group had had no direct contact with Gemscott, which had lodged the consent application, but had held discussions with Kāinga Ora.

“We all hope we can get a result that’s more suited to Kerikeri, and that addresses the problems of homelessness and housing affordability.”

The next steps hinged on how flexible Kāinga Ora was prepared to be, Buxton said.

Earlier this month the council stepped away from the contentious decision about whether the Clark Rd consents should be publicly notified, instead handing it over to an independent commissioner.

Kāinga Ora also owns land on neighbouring King St and at 115 Kerikeri Rd, between Kerikeri Retirement Village and the SPCA op shop.

No resource consent application has been lodged as yet for 115 Kerikeri Rd. An application for the King St site was lodged but withdrawn early this year pending a redesign.