Yesterday Kāinga Ora sent out a FAQ via email (link here), unfortunately all the info were public knowledge, already documented on our site for some time, and lack actual information. I'll break it down by importance, so not in order of their document.
Walkway between Snowmass & Teitei
This isn't even documented, but was one of the most highly contested issues in the Zoom call with neighbours on 3rd August & again at the Council Public meeting held 31st August.
Funding
There is $5.2m assigned to the project of Phase 1, it still doesn't mention who pays overrun/shortfall costs, but the contract, linked to here (last page for easiest reference) says RDC bears the cost, which means rate payers are at high risk of the costs.
Of the $5.2m, only $3.9m is left for actual civil works, infrastructure, roading & 3 waters; thats only if they come in budget on the $1.295m assigned to Design & Planning, Land use & Resource Consents, Design & Drawing, Tendering & Civil Works Contracts. If the consent goes to notified, there will be huge consultant costs to verify all the issues brought up by the public, a high court injunction will also increase costs considerably.
Consultation
Kāinga Ora continue to say that the public was consulted, however I have written on this, asked questions about it, and yet to hear back anything. Council did confirm that they didnt consult on Teitei Drive specifically and they are only just starting on that now. You can see video evidence/confirmation, here, here & here You can read in more depth about their supposed consultation here and where i publicly called out council in one of their public meetings here.
Affects to Carrot Park & Traffic
Council & Kāinga Ora think its ok to put a low cost "Ohakune Social Housing Project" on some of their most valuable land, next to one of the most expensive subdivisions in the town, next to the prized carrot park. They believe there will be no affects of having an urban sprawl (300-450sqm sections) taking over the natural, peaceful and safe environment the carrot park currently is; one I might add, that attracts over 100,000 people a year.
Houses on the Market
Apparently they have reviewed the properties on the market and could not find any suitable for the needs of housing people; even though they have no records of doing such, where I asked under OIA, they claim no document or notes exist for them doing so.
Need / Demand for housing
Kāinga Ora & Council claim there is a large need for housing in Ruapehu & Ohakune. We don't disagree, that the region has 72 people waiting for housing, but why build all of these in one location, and not in the location that most needs them. There are only 12 people on the MSD housing wait list, with Council & Ngāti Rangi claiming they have others that are in need.
Why is the government trusting stats and figures provided by third parties, they have not means tested to ensure these people actually need or deserve a discounted house? I've heard from head of Ngāti Rangi, Helen, that they used stats from an "Independent report" that stated 60 people were waiting on housing. I followed up with the independent who confirmed this was not a statistic, but a quote from a member of the public; that same day Ngāti Rangi severed ties with that "independent".
Why is Ngāti Rangi & Council not following process by telling people in need, that they have to register on the MSD wait list so that Kāinga Ora get the funding to buy or build homes where they are needed. This is just like the census, if you don't fill it out, the government doesn't know where to allocate resources, with Ngāti Rangi & RDC not following correct procedures, this is making the matter worse, as government don't see a need to provide the services to our district.
Kainga Oras approach to bad tenants
We have confirmed under OIA, that only 1 tenant has ever been evicted, you'd think this number would be so much higher given the amount of complaints & news articles; plus the amount of people that have been driven out of their own homes.
I know someone personally that had to deal with the pain & suffering for over 2 years, they finally managed to sell their house for much less than they paid, just to get away and start a new life with their family. This was a case that didn't make the news as they didn't want to make the situation worse due to the gang involvement; they feared for their kids lives.
Lack of council Transparency
Even after ratepayers have raised concern, to date, not a single document has been provided by council to OIA requests we have submitted. The documents we have shared, the contracts we have obtained, have all been via OIA's from Kāinga Ora & Crown Infrastructure Partners. Myself, our solicitors & many other concerned in our community have OIA's that RDC have failed to meet their obligations on.
Council is certainly there, but they are picking and choosing which OIA's to respond to, as we are getting responses to OIA's we have submitted in the last couple of weeks (not directly related to Teitei Drive), but OIA's we've had in place for months with regards to Teitei are still unanswered.
This lack of transparency, lack of abiding by the Local Government Act in multiple sections, lack of following the Official Information Act, the clear failure to abide by their own policies and the failure to follow their own district plan; shows a huge injustice the council has for their community. This will be fought with all our mite to ensure those that made these decisions within council are held accountable and we will push for this to be a personal liability not covered by any council insurance due to the clear & constant belittling of the community and the continuation of the project after being made aware of their failures.
Council have also failed to provide information under the Resource Management Act (RMA) which should be readily available.
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