Tēnā koutou katoa
Greetings to you all
At the last Council meeting, the Mayor and Councillors formally adopted the brand-new Housing Strategy. This is an important development which sets out the role Council will play in the future provision of housing across the Tararua, including housing affordability and availability. This strategy will guide at times when demand both ebbs and surges.
Housing is a complex issue with effects being felt right across the country. In the Tararua district, we now have more than 19,000 residents and we expect to be growing even more over time. This means planning for an increasing demand for housing in our district, placing even more pressure on the current shortage of affordable rental housing. Currently there's an imbalance between house supply and demand. Particularly for smaller one- or two-bedroom houses. In fact, 65% of residents in Dannevirke, Woodville, Pahiatua and Eketāhuna live in one or two person households, yet only 18% of the housing stock is one- or two-bedroom bedroom properties.
During the Super Consultation in April, these issues were also highlighted when we asked for community inputs and ideas on the housing issues that we are facing in our district. Other issues across the whole housing stock were also identified and have been considered.
Council's aim is to make it easier to build more housing in places where people want to live. Our estimates are that over the next 20 years up to 1,000 additional households will be required in our district. This housing strategy will put in place guidelines to ensure we are building the types of houses our district needs, and in the right places. We will be doing this through a variety of measures. First and foremost, Council will proactively work together with iwi partners, businesses, key stakeholders and community organisations to facilitate more housing, but will not act as a developer. In addition, we will be working with Kāinga Ora and other stakeholders to encourage new investments in social housing. Further measures could include investigating where we can open up Council owned land suitable for development, reviewing regulatory settings to build houses, develop the core infrastructure needed to build more houses, and possibly expanding town boundaries. Spatial plans and improved urban design take time to develop but are on Council's work programme as we review the District Plan.
A practical example of current work to increase housing options in our district include the construction of six pensioner units in Dannevirke. In addition, our teams are currently working with both our iwi partners on housing at multiple locations, and we are working with Kāinga Ora to secure funding to improve housing infrastructure of the former Pahiatua Hillcrest school. If successful the funds could help provide the core infrastructure for up to 40 new house sites.
Ngā Mihi,
Bryan Nicholson Chief Executive