Talbot Park residents hopeful about development's future

Ruapotaka Marae liaison officer Georgie Thompson (left) and Talbot Park resident Regina Harris (middle) share the optimism of Housing New Zealand project manager Stuart Bracey (right) for the housing development's future. Pictures / Dean Purcell

Residents of Glen Innes are hoping predictions of a new slum in their neighbourhood won't come true.

Regina Harris, a 33-year-old solo mother who moved into Talbot Park this year, is not worried a further 270 residents will join her on the 4ha site over the next 12 months.

"It's much better here now. Everything is brand new," she said.

"I think apartment blocks are the way it's going to be. You're going to get more families in one building."

Ms Harris' refurbished two-bedroom flat is part of Housing New Zealand's $48 million upgrade of Talbot Park, a residential development originally built in the 1960s that had become rundown and notorious for crime.

Almost all the nine "star blocks" - three-storey blocks of flats - have been refurbished at a cost of $120,000 each, which includes new safety measures in and around the buildings.

But only 20 per cent of the former tenants have opted to return.

Housing New Zealand project manager Stuart Bracey said he didn't believe that was because people didn't want to live there but because they didn't want to move again.

He knew of no plans to put private tenants into Talbot Park alongside clients from Housing New Zealand waiting lists.

"I know there are people talking about that but at the moment there is no Government policy to do that."

Mr Bracey said he was aware of community fears over the high-density housing project.

"We are aware we are going to have to work with our tenants about living like this. It's a high-profile development and certainly for the Government and the corporation it's very important it works."

At the Glen Innes Community Centre, 82-year-old Gladys Archer said she believed that despite the money being spent, Talbot Park would become a ghetto.

Margaret Nelson, a Glen Innes resident for more than 50 years, agreed.

"Years ago they said Glen Innes would be a slum area, and we're definitely heading that way. Even the shopping centre has gone to the pack," she said.

But Georgie Thompson, a liaison worker at Ruapotaka Marae near Talbot Park, said the community should wait and see.

"I understand why people are wary but I think it's a good project," she said.

"Housing New Zealand just needs to educate people more about having a sense of belonging in the place."

Mr Bracey said the star flats had a turnover rate of 50 per cent a year before refurbishment but that was now down to 5 per cent.