Koutu residents not feeling 'deprived'

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Kingi Biddle wouldn't live anywhere but Koutu. PHOTO/BEN FRASER 060614BF11

Kingi Biddle racks his brain to think of things Koutu is deprived of - and not many spring to mind.

The passionate Koutu resident can't think of anywhere he'd rather live - even if his suburb is ranked as one of Rotorua's most deprived, according to the latest New Zealand Deprivation Index.

"I just don't know how that can be. Deprived of what would be my question," he said.

"If deprived of love, I would disagree. If deprived of belonging, I would disagree."

For Mr Biddle, Koutu is rich in so many aspects - especially the sense of community spirit in the tight-knit community.

"Koutu is home for me and Koutu is family."

Suburbs were ranked on variables like communication, home ownership, income, employment and transport - things Mr Biddle didn't think were lacking.

"When there is an event, five seconds after it happens everyone in Koutu knows."

He said the Koutu community had its own businesses, and people in paid work as well as a rich cultural aspect.

"It's not a hood, it's a home."

Fellow Koutu resident Tiffany Te Moni agreed the strong sense of community and whanau made the area special.

She said the big difference between Koutu and other lower socio-economic suburbs was that the families living there had been there for a long time.

"Western Heights and Fordlands can be quite transient. One of the benefits here is we have the Waikite Sports Club that brings everyone together, as well as our marae."

Ms Te Moni grew up in Koutu and time away only made her more sure that it was where she wanted to raise her family.

"Where I grew up is still there, my mum and dad are still there. Heaps of my friends grew up in different houses, I never moved once."

She said she loved the way she couldn't go to the shops without bumping into someone she knew, and the way the whole community, including shops, contributed to events.