Emergency housing in Rotorua has 'created a monster' - Property News AU/NZ | propertynoise.co.nz & propertynoise.com.au

PHOTO: Emergency Housing Plan. FILE

Residents and business owners say the emergency housing system in Rotorua is “a bloody fiasco”.

At the second to last day of the hearing between the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and Rotorua Council, residents and business spoke about the impact of emergency housing in the community.

Once known as the jewel in the tourism crown, Rotorua residents said their town had seen better days.

With an increase in emergency housing, motels all over Fenton Street were packed with those waiting for a forever home since before the pandemic.

A submission from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development wanted to extend the resource consent for 13 Rotorua motels.

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With the extension, the motels would be able to lock in emergency housing contracts for the next five years.

Former Rotorua councillor Merepeka Raukawa-Tait came to the hearing with her sister.

She said the emergency housing system in Rotorua had “created a monster”.

“You’ve heard from the citizens of Rotorua and their concerns are absolutely correct. They are fearful of people that did not want to be in that position themselves,” she said during her speech at the hearing.

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Raukawa-Tait said motels were not designed to house families for long periods.

“When people live in close quarters as in a motel, there’s always high stress and high tension. And many of those families already have health needs, and those just escalates. And that escalation plays out on the streets, in the behaviour that we see. It’s unfair for the citizens of Rotorua.”