No pool for the homeless

Homeless families will soon find shelter at a former plush motel in Blenheim, but they won’t be lounging around the pool or relaxing in the spa.

Brydan Accommodation has been given the go-ahead to be converted into emergency accommodation, but with strict conditions including the pool being filled with concrete and the spa pools being ripped out.

The list of conditions was released on Thursday by independent commissioner Richard Fowler QC, following a resource consent hearing last month.

Neighbours opposed the application, arguing noise, traffic and the services to be based there would breach the Wairau/Awatere Resource Management Plan.

The motel was bought by the Ministry of Social Development, and would be run by the Christchurch Methodist Mission and the Crossroads Marlborough Charitable Trust.

Tenants were likely to stay there for about three months on average while they found permanent accommodation with help from staff and social workers.

Ministry acting chief executive for housing Hayley Hamilton said the decision to remove the spa pools and fill in the swimming pool was ‘‘in the interests of health and safety’’.

The ministry had offered to ban single men or people who were assessed as risky from the former motel, but Fowler stopped short of adding an eligibility criteria to his list of conditions, adding that job should fall on the operators.

‘‘We have worked hard to recognise and address the concerns of the five submitters, who have provided some useful feedback.’’ MSD acting chief executive for housing Hayley Hamilton

‘‘And overly prescriptive conditions that include such matter are prone to lack of certainty problems and can create considerable enforcement difficulties.’’

The motel, on the corner of Rose St and State Highway 6 in Springlands, comprised 17 units with beds for up to 47 tenants.

Fowler’s conditions would allow up to 50 people to sleep there if demand required it.

The two-storey motel manager’s house would become accommodation for a supervisor and a property and maintenance manager, who had to live onsite 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A conference centre would become a training room, the motel laundry would become a shared laundry, and a communal clothesline and rubbish bins would be installed.

Solicitor Nigel McFadden, acting for the opposition, said at the hearing the training room meant the application should have been for community housing rather than residential, and was therefore non- compliant. But Fowler disagreed. The ministry initially planned to allow former tenants to visit the social worker and tenancy manager there, but later restricted it to only current tenants, which made the application residential, he said.

The northern and eastern boundary fence between the motel and its neighbours had to be upgraded to 1.8m high, and a 1.2m high fence along the roadside was to be added. The driveway off SH6 would need to be gated and locked.

Fowler accepted 25 car parks would be enough – one for each unit and seven staff car parks – but made a condition that the council would monitor demand and could require more spaces to be allocated.

Hamilton said the ministry welcomed the decision to ‘‘help house and support vulnerable families in Blenheim’’.

‘‘We have worked hard to recognise and address the concerns of the five submitters, who have provided some useful feedback during the consultation process.’’

The people who submitted in opposition of the plan had 15 working days to file an appeal with the Environment Court.

If no appeal was filed, the ministry could start filling in the pool, ripping out the spa pools and changing the fencing, and families could start moving in as early as March next year, Hamilton said.

‘‘We will continue to follow due process, and together with the provider are committed to working with the local community to ensure we can provide much needed support for people in need, and ensure the future success of this initiative.’’