Emerald Spa on Fenton St in Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner
Emerald Spa on Fenton St in Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner
The Government has added another motel to the list of motels it wants to contract for emergency housing for the next five years.
A resource consent application has now been lodged for Emerald Spa Motel on Fenton St, which can cater for up to 99 people.
Emerald Spa was oneof three motels used by the Government as "Covid-19 response" motels, which aimed to cater for rough sleepers who needed somewhere to isolate when New Zealand went into lockdown in 2020.
That motel, along with Tuscany Villas and Four Canoes Hotel, has housed homeless people ever since under the "Covid-19 response" umbrella.
A Ministry of Housing and Urban Development spokesperson said Emerald Spa was now being used for contracted emergency housing and therefore resource consent was applied for, along with the 12 other contracted motels.
He said Tuscany Villas and Four Canoes Hotel remained Covid-19 response motels.
Submissions on the 12 other applications closed last month, and 3656 submissions were received - 80 per cent of which were opposed to the council granting resource consent.
Submissions on the Emerald Spa application close on September 2.
Independent commissioners are tasked with making a decision on the applications.
All submitters who have asked to speak to their submission will have the opportunity to do so at the hearing, the date and length of which is yet to be determined by the commissioners.
Contracted motels are part of the Government's shake-up of the emergency housing system announced for Rotorua last year.
The resource consent applications aim to make them compliant with the district plan - the way they are currently operating is unlawful, as the district plan only consents them to have short-term visitors staying.
The resource consent applications aimed to remedy that situation, given emergency housing clients often stay for several months.
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If all 13 motels got the go-ahead, they would be approved to have 1107 occupants.
The applications state there will be on-site support service providers and 24/7 security. The motels are managed by Visions of a Helping Hand, Wera Aotearoa or Emerge Aotearoa.
The Rotorua Lakes Council has written to the estimated 40 non-Government-contracted motels in Rotorua stating they must either get compliant with the district plan by applying for resource consent, or stop operating as emergency housing motels. Failure to do so will result in court action.
The Rotorua Daily Post asked the council this week if it would insist the Government applied for resource consent for Tuscany Villas and Four Canoes Hotel.
In response, a council spokesperson said: "Yes we will request this".
When asked if it had taken any court against the other motels, the spokesperson said: "This is a live and ongoing process that all relevant parties are currently engaged in."
How to make a submission on Emerald Spa's resource consent:
People who have submitted already didn't need to fill in an additional submission form but they are asked to inform the council of their intention by emailing the council at: planning.submissions@rotorualc.nz or by calling the council's planning technician on (07) 351 8040.
If you are making a submission about the Emerald Spa Hotel only, it was preferable to complete a submission on Form 13. Copies of this form are available from the council or on the council's website.
Emergency housing motels
• The Government had previously contracted 14 motels as part of a $30 million shake-up of Rotorua's emergency housing processes last year. • There are 250 households in those motels. • It had contracted three motels as Covid-19 response motels - Emerald Spa Motel, Tuscany Villas and Four Canoes Hotel. These can cater for up to 350 people. It is not known how many households it caters for. • Emerald Spa is now contracted for emergency housing, not Covid-19 response. • The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has applied for resource consent for 13 of the 15 contracted motels - one is on hold and another (Boulevard Motel) has already secured resource consent without public consultation. • There are estimated to be more than 40 non-contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua catering for about 350 households.
