Rotorua emergency housing motels: Grant Robertson says Government is taking concerns "very, very seriously"

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson says the Government is taking concerns about emergency housing in Rotorua motels "very, very seriously".

His comments came at the post-Cabinet press conference on Monday, where Robertson was filling in for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who is in the UK attending the late Queen's funeral.

It follows a Rotorua Daily Post report on Saturday that revealed a significant uptick in police callouts along the city's "Motel Mile", Fenton St, between 2018 and 2021.

Rotorua police said emergency housing had increased the demand on their resources and that staffing had not been increased during this time.

RotoruaNZ - the district's regional tourism organisation - has developed a dashboard to help would-be tourists avoid mixed-model motels.

Asked by Local Democracy Reporting what the Government was doing to protect the tourism reputation of the city, Robertson said it was "working very closely" with Rotorua Lakes Council and other groups "to support all of the people in the district".

"Obviously, there's been some stories in recent times about concerns that are being raised; we take those very, very seriously.

"It's a community where we have invested money and resources."

He said that included the Provincial Growth Fund and $85 million for housing infrastructure through the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund.

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson at Monday's post-Cabinet media conference. Photo / Mark Mitchell

He said the latter would support the building of 3000 houses.

"We are working closely with the community. It has been a very challenging and difficult period.

"No doubt, those who live in the area have had concerns - we've tried to deal with those as they've been raised."

Robertson also highlighted "tourism funding" from the Government for the area.

"Businesses in Rotorua have received significant amounts of money and support from us.

"Rotorua is still a busy tourism town - I know that from talking to people who are there - but there are other issues that need to be dealt with, and we'll deal with those."

A TVNZ Sunday investigation threw the issue of Rotorua's emergency housing in motels into the national spotlight earlier in the month. It followed extensive reporting on the issue by the Rotorua Daily Post.

Te Arawa has called for an end to the emergency housing crisis, and the issues associated with motels have been a hot topic among mayoral candidates.

Local Democracy Reporting is public interest journalism funded by NZ On Air.