Good news: the govt is ending contracts for emergency housing in motels – but not as quickly as Rotorua would like
The Beehive spin doctors have done a nice job with news that the government is ending contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua
Contracted Rotorua emergency housing motels to reduce to seven
A new bid is underway to continue using seven Rotorua motels for emergency housing.
Rotorua Lakes Council said it had been officially notified that the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development was submitting resource consent applications next week.
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said:
“The current consents for contracted emergency housing motels were set to end this December. Seeing these motels used for emergency housing beyond that date would understandably be disappointing for Rotorua.”
But she said it was positive to see there were plans to reduce the number of motels from 13 to four within the next 12 months.
The only other Beehive news in the past 24 hours related to the government’s programme of hastening the securing of consents to do this or that.
In this case, it’s flood protection work in Hawke’s Bay.
Latest from the Beehive
8 JUNE 2024
The end of Contracted Emergency Housing motels in Rotorua is nearing another milestone as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development announces it will not renew consents for six of the original 13 motels.
7 JUNE 2024
Work to increase flood resilience in Hawke’s Bay can start sooner, thanks to a new fast consenting process.
Tamaka Potaka – like many of his ministerial colleagues and most bureaucrats – is a dab hand at initialism:
The government is committed to stop using CEH by December 2025.
In 2022, Rotorua Lakes Council granted HUD consents for 13 motels to provide Contracted Emergency Housing. Consents were granted for two years – expiring in December 2024.
With a pipeline of social houses scheduled to be completed in Rotorua, HUD will soon apply for resource consent for seven CEH motels for 12 months ending in December 2025.
It is expected that by mid-2025, there will only be four motels needed, Potaka said.
“The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development will work closely with the Rotorua community including Ngāti Whakaue and Te Arawa, Restore Rotorua and the Rotorua Lakes Council to ensure they are aware of the progress,” says Potaka.
“This will provide certainty for families needing housing, until they can move into a long-term home, while reassuring the people of Rotorua that the use of these motels in the city is winding down quickly.”
Rotorua MP Todd McClay says the government is fulfilling its commitment to ending the use of Contracted Emergency Housing motels in Rotorua.
“We are determined to get whānau out of these motels, and into stable housing.”
Stable housing?
It is unlikely this means that horses will have to find new homes…
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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