Residents living at 2six5 on Fenton have been told they must leave because of an issue with a bore. Photo / Kelly Makiha
Transitional housing residents are being forced to move out of a Government-owned former motel in Rotorua because a broken geothermal bore caused heating and water issues.
About 16 households were living at 2six5 on Fenton – the former Boulevard Motel – on Fenton St when the issue struck. Six households have moved out and the remaining 10 will follow.
The complex has 30 units and caters for up to 70 people.
The Labour Government controversially bought the site for $8.1 million – nearly twice the market value – in 2021 and spent a further $3m renovating it.
The future of the site is now uncertain.
A woman who had lived at the property for more than two years, whose name the Rotorua Daily Post agreed not to publish, said residents started experiencing water issues about two months ago.
“It’s been stuffed for a while. A few months ago it was green, so they used to buy us water and stuff like that.”
She said residents had been told the premises were being shut down in January and they all had to move out.
She said she was sad to leave because she liked the support of having lots of people living around her.
The Rotorua Daily Post asked the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development if the property was closing in January.
In a statement, a ministry spokesperson did not directly answer the question but said clients at 2six5 on Fenton were being moved.
“Some households have been placed already, and the remainder will be supported into other accommodation by the end of February.”
Kāinga Ora’s director of supported housing, Lucy Ashby, said the geothermal bore used to provide heating and hot water to the site had reached the end of its operational life.
She said WorkSafe was advised the bore needed to be either capped or replaced by February.
Ashby said those types of issues were not uncommon in Rotorua, and WorkSafe’s involvement was standard practice.
“While transitional housing is always intended to be a temporary form of accommodation where whānau can receive the support they need to then move into more appropriate, stable housing, we appreciate this issue could be unsettling for those affected.”
She said Kāinga Ora carefully considered whether residents could stay while work was completed.
“However, it would be very disruptive and would result in extended periods of time where residents would have no hot water or heating.”
Wera Aotearoa Charitable Trust was working with residents to match them with alternative housing. This included Kāinga Ora homes in the Rotorua region, Ashby said.
She said Kāinga Ora was considering future options for the site, taking into account the bore and potential other work required.
She would not elaborate on what that might mean.
The $8.1m sale of the Boulevard Motel to the Government raised eyebrows in July 2021.
A Rotorua real estate agent said at the time that the motel covered six property titles, collectively valued at $4.3m.
Then-Labour MP Tamati Coffey had called the buy a “game-changer” for people facing housing struggles, while Rotorua MP Todd McClay of National had said the Government should be building houses, not buying motels.
The site reopened in August 2022 under the new name 2six5 on Fenton.
The Government contracted Wera Aotearoa Charitable Trust to manage the transitional house and provide wrap-around support for those living there.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said at the time that the intention was to house up to 70 people for up to 12 weeks before they could move into long-term rentals.
Those who qualify for transitional housing pay 25% of their income in rent.
The Rotorua Lakes Council came under fire for granting the ministry a resource consent to operate the motel as long-term transitional housing, because many in the community felt they should have been consulted.
It sparked a legal battle led by lobby group Restore Rotorua to have future resource consents for other emergency housing motels publicly notified.
The legal battle was won, and later resource consent applications for other emergency housing motels had to be publicly notified.
The extent of the damage contracting motels for emergency housing caused in Rotorua was laid out in those public hearings in October 2022.
The current Government vowed to end the scheme by the end of this year and announced last month that there were no more households living in contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua.
Two non-contracted providers remained.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.