Transitional housing development for Ruakaka canned after community speaks up

These transitional housing units in Otahuhu. Auckland, are an example of what the Ruakaka units could have looked like. Photo / Supplied

Plans for 31 short-term housing units in Ruakaka village have been suddenly axed - just weeks after a government agency told residents the development was going ahead, and days after Whangārei MP Dr Shane Reti started asking questions.

Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities has yet to answer those questions, simply confirming the development was discontinued and refusing to explain why.

The agency was planning to install 22 two-bedroom and nine three-bedroom units for short-term housing on undeveloped land between Tamingi and Te One streets, starting mid-January.

The project was cancelled on Wednesday last week, shortly before a scheduled public meeting with Ruakaka residents.

In a statement on Friday, Kāinga Ora said they had "useful conversations with a range of stakeholders in the region and among the relevant government agencies around Ruakaka as a location for transitional housing".

"After these discussions, we have decided we will not be proceeding at this time with a development on this site," the spokesperson said.

The agency has refused to make further comment on the subject.

Ruakaka Residents and Ratepayers Association president Warren Daniel said there was a "fair bit of concern raised" when the residents received information about the proposed development.

"We were going to organise a public meeting with the community to talk about the plans, but then we got the notice that the project had been shelved," Daniel said.

He said people were upset about the lack of consultation and concerned about the impact this sudden move would have on local services, specifically schools and medical centres.

In their information sheet handed out to the residents, Kāinga Ora say they expected families to stay for an average of three months in the transitional housing units before being moved on to permanent housing.

Daniel said if people were coming into the community for only three months, it would be disruptive rather than an asset to Ruakaka.

The idea behind transitional housing is to provide for families in urgent need of shelter.

The 31 units intended for Ruakaka were supposed to be "warm, dry and modern" houses built off-site and then assembled on-site over six months.

Andrew Booker, spokesperson for Kāinga Ora, said the agency provided social services and support along with transitional housing, including budgeting advice, and access to health.

The poposed site between Tamingi and Te One streets in Ruakaka. Photo / John Stone

Carol Tolley lives on Te One St, just across the road from the proposed site, and first learned about the plans when she watched Kāinga Ora workers surveying the land – a few days later the Kāinga Ora letters came.

"I'm very aware of the need for housing, but at the same time, I was concerned about the large number of families – partially families in crisis – that would suddenly come here.

"They were going to need services that we are already struggling with here."

Next to schools and medical providers that might not be able to cope with the sudden population surge, Tolley pointed out that there were hardly any public transport options for people to get around.

She said she was concerned about how the small community could provide for people with high-needs issues without creating more problems.

Her neighbour Ashley Osborn said it wasn't about more housing but the temporary nature of transitional housing with the related issues.

"It's not that we don't want people here, it's about how it's done. We have enough bloody problems here as it is."

Land ownership was another unknown in a range of issues raised by the community.

Juliane Chetham, acting secretary of Patuharakeke Te Iwi Trust said they regarded the land as their mana whenua, and while the iwi had been willing to work with Kāinga Ora, they weren't unhappy when the plans were cancelled.

"We hadn't formed a position regarding the transitional housing yet because many aspects still had to be assessed," Chetham said.

She said the land was a memorial site and that the Patuharakeke hadn't fully determined its meaning for the community and the cultural value yet.

Ruakaka residents, who had contacted Reti with information regarding the proposed development, met with the MP on November 30 in Ruakaka.

Reti said he listened to the residents' concerns and together they cordoned areas where supposedly Kāinga Ora had already started installing services.

"What mattered to the community was that their voice wasn't heard. When they received the Kāinga Ora, it simply told them what was going to happen, no one ever asked them."

Reti - seeing his role as a voice for the community - asked 32 parliamentary questions to the Minister of Housing and lodged 13 Official Information Act requests.

"Seventy-two hours after I had sent out those questions, I had an email from the Ruakaka residents saying the plans had been cancelled."

He said Kāinga Ora should have been more transparent about the process and involved the community from the start.

"For me, it was about the community to be heard, and that has happened. Successful government projects need to take the community with them from the start."

Kāinga Ora has yet to identify a new site for the transitional housing yet.