Concerned Kensington residents informally meet with Kāinga Ora rep

Residents concerned about the size of proposed housing by Kāinga Ora met with a representative on Wednesday. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Irate residents and ratepayers of the ‘Kensington Development Group’ have penned a letter to the Whangārei District Council and Kāinga Ora over proposed social housing units.

The letter outlines concerns over “vague, incomplete and minimal” information from Kāinga Ora thus far about the proposals and calls on the Community Engagement Team and developers to hear the concerns.

Kāinga Ora plans to build 63 new homes on land it owns in Cairnfield Rd, Churchill St, King St, Kamo Rd and Lovatt Cres. Most of the sites will feature two- and three-storey blocks.

The letter will be signed by residents in impacted areas and sent by the end of next week. It comes after residents on a Whangārei street raised their concerns with a Kāinga Ora representative during an informal meeting on Wednesday.

Rob Akuhata, manager community engagement and partnerships at Kāinga Ora, walked with a small group of residents as they showed him the area and aired concerns over the proposed builds.

A spokesperson said the collective group isn’t opposed to social housing, but is opposed to the sheer size and density.

Other concerns include the volume of traffic moving up and down the road, a loss of privacy for nearby homes, blocking of sunlight onto nearby homes, and stormwater issues in a flood-prone area.

“We want to lessen the impact. Literally just the scale of it and the density,” the spokesperson said.

Another resident felt “shocked” having found out about the proposal just last week.

She said when the last tenants left the current buildings owned by Kāinga Ora she was under the impression that there would be “nicer, cleaner, safer, drier homes there.

“I was happy with that. I only found out they were going to be proposed three-storey high in the last week.”

She also outlined concerns about the buildings not keeping with the character of the nearby streets.

In an Advocate article last week, Kāinga Ora regional director for Tai Tōkerau Jeff Murray said they are committed to getting the buildings consented but would engage with residents over their concerns.

“We heard some genuine concerns about traffic safety, views to the maunga, and the impact on neighbouring homes’ sunlight, especially regarding the proposals for three-level buildings.

“These are much-needed homes for Whangārei, and we’re committed to getting them consented and built quickly as practical.”

Kāinga Ora social housing plans for Kensington, Whangārei:

■ At 3-7 Cairnfield Rd, Kāinga Ora plans to build 12 two-bedroom homes in a three-storey walk-up building, with off-street car parking, landscaping and fencing and bicycle parking.

■ At 17-17a Cairnfield Rd, it has plans for nine one-bedroom homes in a three-storey walk-up building, with off-street car parking, landscaping and fencing and bicycle parking. Both projects are planned to be completed by mid-2025.

■ At 20-20a Churchill St, it has plans for six new two-storey, two-bedroom terraced/duplex homes to be completed in mid-2024.

■ 13-15 King St would have six new two-storey two-bedroom terraced homes, also completed by mid-2024.

■ 57-59 King St would be developed to include four new two-storey homes, three two-bedroom terraced homes and one five-bedroom stand-alone home and one home accessible to full universal design. Again this would bed finished by mid-2024.

■ 58-60 King St would have six new two-storey two-bedroom terraced homes to be built by mid-2024.

■ 32-34 Lovatt Cres would get five new two-storey terraced/duplex homes, three two-bedroom homes and two three-bedroom homes by mid-2024.

■ At 24 Kamo Rd, five two-bedroom terraced homes would be completed by early-2024

Brodie Stone is the education and general news reporter at the Advocate. Brodie recently graduated from Massey University and has a special interest in the environment and investigative reporting.