Ngāi Te Rangi hoped to relocate these state houses onto Māori land in its rohe but they were demolished instead. Photos/ Ngāi Te Rangi
Ngāi Te Rangi hoped to relocate these state houses onto Māori land in its rohe but they were demolished instead. Photos/ Ngāi Te Rangi
A Government agency demolished nine state homes a Bay of Plenty iwi planned to acquire for families in "atrocious living conditions".
Kāinga Ora has apologised and the Government minister overseeing the agency says its handling of the matter fell well short of her expectations.
Tauranga-based Ngāi Te Rangi had beenin negotiations with Kāinga Ora for more than a year over the plan to relocate the Rotorua state houses to Māori land in its rohe.
Ngāi Te Rangi chief executive Paora Stanley. Photo / NZME
Iwi chief executive Paora Stanley said he was led to believe the deal would go through and had told desperate whānau members they would get the homes.
Stanley said the process involved 14 formal meetings, about 22 follow-up phone calls and a pōwhiri with Kāinga Ora that included kaumātua and senior tribe dignitaries on October 15, 2020 - who chose the houses.
But on June 2 Kāinga Ora withdrew from the deal via email.
''The debris I had to deal with after that was simply horrific because we do things on mana. One kaumātua came to me the other day and asked about the houses and I had to say 'I am really, really sorry ...''
Stanley said some of the houses were destined for Matakana Island as ''several people were living in rundown houses with no windows, no running water and no power''.
Other properties were set aside for Rereatukahia, near Katikati, to help a large group of people ''living on and above a swamp''.
''They had no running water or power and were living in ramshackle sheds. One property was going to a family who was couch surfing.''
Others were for several marae and homeless families.
All of the potential recipients knew the refurbishment for each property could go as high as $130,000, he said.
''Considering they had their own land the refurbishment was definitely a viable option.''
Kaumatua were ''excited for the possibility of resolving the atrocious living conditions our people were living in''.
Ngāi Te Rangi sent its final legal recommendations on May 24 this year which had seven markups. These included that Kāinga Ora retains the risk of the dwellings until they left the site and it would be responsible for relocating the dwellings and getting all the required consents.
However, on June 2 Kāinga Ora withdrew from the plan via an email which said ''As has been advised, because of the short timeframes that we have, and the need to move our projects forward in Rotorua, the nine properties originally discussed for relocation are no longer available''.
''We apologise for the inconvenience that this has caused, and look forward to seeing how we can work together in the future to enable our whānau to flourish through living in better homes."
Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities Bay of Plenty regional director Darren Toy. Photo / Supplied
Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities Bay of Plenty regional director Darren Toy revealed in a written statement to NZME this week that "due to miscommunication internally within Kāinga Ora the houses were demolished instead of being relocated for use by Ngāi Te Rangi".
"There were a range of different factors involved here including issues of communication, mismatched expectations, planning and due diligence, both between Kāinga Ora and Ngāi Te Rangi, and within Kāinga Ora."
He wanted to ''personally apologise to Ngāi Te Rangi for this, and for any difficulties it has placed on them and for how this was managed by Kāinga Ora''.
''I understand the disappointment and frustration felt by many people. As an organisation committed to improving outcomes to help realise Māori housing aspirations, Kāinga Ora in this case fell well below our values and what Ngāi Te Rangi could have expected from working with us.''
Toy said Kāinga Ora was committed to working alongside the iwi to help with the housing issues they had identified.
''We are actively looking at different options which could help realise their aspirations. At the same (time) I appreciate it will take time to rebuild our relationship with them.''
The nine older houses were on sites in Rotorua which were planned to be redeveloped to build a larger number of new homes.
Housing minister Megan Woods. Photo / NZME
Housing Minister Megan Woods told NZME Kāinga Ora's handling of the matter was "not good enough".
''Kāinga Ora fell well short of my expectations in their dealings with Ngāi Te Rangi and did not meet the standards required''.
She had been assured it was an isolated incident and important lessons had been learned.
Woods said Kāinga Ora had assured her they were still committed to working alongside Ngāi Te Rangi but appreciated it might take time to rebuild the relationship.
Putting Māori at the heart of New Zealand's housing response through kaupapa Māori approaches was one of the Government's core priorities, she said.
''I know that Kāinga Ora values its close working relationships with iwi, hapū, and Māori organisations throughout Aotearoa. This includes Tainui, Ngāti Kahungungu, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Toa and many more.''
Kāinga Ora had delivered more than 5000 public homes in the last three and a half years, around 2400 over the past year, with many thousands more under construction across the country.
''Only by working together can we address the long-term housing disparities that have been decades in development."
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges. Photo / NZME
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges said the demolition of the state homes after more than a year of korero was ''an insult to Ngāi Te Rangi ''.
''Because of this the housing crisis in the Bay of Plenty just got even worse.''
Stanley said telling people there would be no houses took a toll on him and he felt embarrassed, alongside his staff, as the iwi had invested time and money into the venture.
Whanau who were in line for houses were left devastated.
''Promises are being made but they are not delivering. It's a knotted-up bureaucracy that doesn't have vision.
