Call to address housing

MORE than $100 million in infrastructure spending could be a gamechanger as Dunedin continues to struggle through a housing crisis exacerbated by the fallout from the Covid19 pandemic.

Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins yesterday said that as households were pushed towards poverty through lost income, reduced hours, or reduced wages in an economy in need of rebuilding, there could be an increasing need for affordable rental housing.

The ‘‘real test’’ for the Government as it plans its economic recovery would be the ‘‘appetite’’ it had for infrastructure projects that not only drove economic stimulus in the short term ‘‘but helps address the longerterm social and environmental issues’’.

‘‘I’ve made it clear in conversations with Government that I think it would be a massive missed opportunity if they don’t invest more in housing as infrastructure, using the economic recovery as an opportunity to address wider social issues,’’ Mr Hawkins said.

‘‘We need to support the construction sector and make sure there’s work for them to do so that it doesn’t fall over; we need to continue to make sure that we are training people to come through and work in that sector; but the market is never really going to address where the greatest need is — and that is people on lower incomes who need affordable rental housing.’’

The Dunedin City Council has applied for $5.2 million for a community housing development from Crown Infrastructure Partners’ ‘‘shovelready’’ projects funding to directly help lower income residents in need, but also indicated it wanted help with funds for a $20 million upgrade of the council’s existing 936 community housing units.

It was also seeking a further $85 million worth of infrastructure projects to facilitate private development of transitionalzoned land for

❛ I think it would be a massive missed opportunity if they don’t invest more in housing as infrastructure

Aaron Hawkins

residential and commercial development.

‘‘All eyes are on the Budget in a couple of weeks to see what comes out of that in terms of directly supporting our communities.

‘‘That will have a pretty significant bearing on what we can do locally,’’ Mr Hawkins said.

Economic forecaster Infometrics has predicted a national unemployment rate of 10% — a level of economic disruption not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s — and hundreds of thousands of job losses, including tens of thousands of jobs lost in accommodation and food services, retail and wholesale trade, construction, nonfood manufacturing, transport, postal and warehousing, and professional, scientific and technical services.

Salvation Army Dunedin community ministries manager David McKenzie said the Level 3 and 4 restrictions had been ‘‘pretty serious’’ for those on a low income, and before the lockdown there was already a significant crunch on the rental market.

And with some suggestion shortterm visitor accommodation was being returned to the longerterm rental market, if more rental properties became available in the short term there could be relief for some of those in need.

‘‘By and large, everybody’s just waiting to come out of this lockdown period . . . ‘‘There’s quite a number of those who have been placed in motels over this time and I would hate to see them turfed back out on to the street.

‘‘I don’t think people are going to do that, but some genuine solutions have got to be found for them.’’

WELLINGTON: Cabinet has approved the fasttracking of large shovelready projects, largely bypassing the Resource Management Act, a move welcomed by the Otago Southland Employers’ Association.

The announcement yesterday, from Environment Minister David Parker, comes as the Government continues to identify projects which could be begin sooner with a large injection of public money.

The aim is to boost the economy as it enters a sharp downturn brought on by the Covid19 pandemic.

The new Act would take away the ability of the public and councils to have an input into whether projects proceed and instead hand this power to small panels of experts, chaired by an Environment Court judge.

The news was greeted with enthusiasm by Otago Southland Employers’ Association chief executive Virginia Nicholls.

‘‘This investment in infrastructure will mean that this will keep local tradespeople in our community, along with opportunities for other tradespeople to join these projects.’’

The association was also keen to see a move to Level 2 ‘‘as soon as practical’’, and ideally by the end of this week.

‘‘We are seeing a number of businesses who are considering closing because they can no longer operate in this environment.

‘‘Businesses have done a great job of complying with the health requirements under Levels 3 and 4, and it’s now time to trust that they can move and work safely in Level 2.’’

Mr Parker said the sorts of projects that would benefit from quicker consenting included roading, walking and cycling, rail, housing, sediment removal, wetland construction, flood management works, and projects to prevent landfill erosion.

Projects that include transport, environmental benefits, and housing will be prioritised.

The changes were approved last week and new legislation was expected to be passed next month.

‘‘We are acting quickly to get the economy moving again and our people working. Part 2 of the RMA will still be applied. Projects are being advanced in time, but environmental safeguards remain . . .

‘‘Investment in infrastructure is central to the Government's economic plan to keep New Zealanders in jobs. We have already signalled major projects as part of the $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade project,’’ Mr Parker said.

National’s RMA reform spokeswoman Judith Collins said the Act was past its useby date and the fasttracking should extend beyond the two years.

Generally speaking, National would support the changes. — RNZ/additional reporting Sally Rae