Most of Napier’s displaced Victoria Masonic Flats tenants find new home

The Victoria Masonic Flats off Morris Spence Ave, Onekawa, from where residents are being moved pending demolition and rebuilding of the village. Photo / Doug Laing.

Almost 80% of tenants forced out of their ageing Napier village amid plans for a rebuild have found new accommodation in less than half the 90 days notice they were given at the end of April.

The remaining mainly over 65-year-old residents of Napier’s Victoria Masonic Flats, off Morris Spence Ave, Onekawa, were told on April 29 that most of the accommodation would not meet healthy homes standards and a decision had been made to rebuild rather than renovate.

The 39 affected residents were told they would have to vacate by the end of next month.

On Thursday, Napier District Masonic Trust CEO Vicki Lee said she was confident all the residents have places to stay, but said the trust was still interested in talking with people who have accommodation that could be available.

Lee said the trust villages manager had been on site “every day” assessing needs and assisting in any way, including transporting tenants to Work and Income appointments and to other flats or apartments for interviews and inspections.

She said that while there was no legal requirement for the trust to relocate the tenants, the trust’s goal was “100%” to do everything it could to ensure they were in accommodation that met their needs, which had meant that a small number had gone into care.

“We want them all to have the right place for their needs – then we can sleep.”

The focus of the trust is pensioner accommodation, and it has a care facility in Taradale.

Lee said it is hoped the village is rebuilt, with a mix of affordable homes and rentals for singles and couples built within 12 months, with a start date dependent on the currently well-advanced planning and resource consent process with the Napier City Council.

She said multiple agencies, including the Ministry of Social Development and charitable service provider Emerge Aotearoa had been “fantastic” in the assistance they’d been able to provide.

The Healthy Homes legislation imposing requirements on landlords came into effect in 2019, and after some extension of deadlines, compliance is now required next month.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.