Hutt housing boost welcomed
A Naenae church leader who led a protest over vacant Housing New Zealand land, is pleased to hear of plans to build and refurbish more than 700 homes in Lower Hutt.
Social Housing Minister Amy Adams today announced details of the plan, which would be implemented over the next five years.
In April, the Rev Martin Robinson camped out on a vacant section in Naenae to draw attention to the amount of empty land.
At the time, he said the Government needed to listen to community concerns over the need for more social housing.
Up to 500 people attended the protest, and Robinson said the plan revealed this week showed the Government and Housing NZ officials had listened to what the community were saying.
‘‘We are really pleased the ball is rolling ... of course, it is an election year but it is just great that something is finally happening.’’
Robinson works with formers prisoners who were often hard to house, and he supported the inclusion of one-bedroom units in the package.
Adams said the timing had nothing to do with the October election.
Work would begin immediately with the aim of having the first of the 30 social housing units in Naenae, finished by the middle of 2018.
As well as new houses, Housing NZ committed to upgrading its existing housing stock, much of which was pre-1960.
It was important that Housing NZ tenants had warm and dry houses to live in Adams said.
While so much effort had been going into the Christchurch rebuild and Auckland, Adams said she asked officials to focus on Lower Hutt because there was a clear demand for more housing.
Mayor Ray Wallace was pleased the announcement included upgrading older housing stock.
He predicted it would be a similar success to a Housing NZ project in Pomare, which featured a mix of social and affordable housing.
Hutt South Labour candidate Ginny Andersen said the Government had ‘‘bowed to pressure’’ in making the announcement close to an election.
Labour had already committed to build 400 new homes on vacant Housing NZ land, she said.