Last night was declared a victory for National & Act with Hipkins conceding to Christopher Luxon. Early on in the votes, Megan Woods was behind National for Wigram and I was enjoying that more than any other electorate count. Though this morning I was a bit disappointed to see the tables turned and she retained her seat. The good news, she wont be running her social housing scam any longer, printing money in what is Kāinga Ora to overspend and deceive (As Lyn Neeson put it) communities that have worked their hard in life to get ahead.
Now is the time to ask for change. We urge you to contact the following contacts ASAP; ask that the "Ohakune Social Housing Project" at Teitei Drive be put on hold until such time as a review of the spend, the need & the risk vs reward can been done by the incoming ministers.
Please reach out to by copying all of the addresses below:
weston.kirton@ruapehudc.govt.nz; vivienne.hoeta@ruapehudc.govt.nz; robyn.gram@ruapehudc.govt.nz; janelle.hinch@ruapehudc.govt.nz; Channey.Iwikau@ruapehudc.govt.nz; Fiona.KahukuraHadley-Chase@ruapehudc.govt.nz; Lyn.Neeson@ruapehudc.govt.nz; david.nottage@ruapehudc.govt.nz; Brenda.Ralph2@ruapehudc.govt.nz; Korty.Wilson@ruapehudc.govt.nz; Christopher.Bishop@parliament.govt.nz; christopher.luxon@parliament.govt.nz; Brooke.vanVelden@parliament.govt.nz ; David.Seymour@parliament.govt.nz
Optional text to copy and paste (use portions you agree with):
First off Congratulations to National & Act! With the election results in, the vote for change very clear. We ask you to please put the Teitei Dr housing project on hold. We urge Mr Luxon & Mr Bishop to look at this misspending by Kāinga Ora (KO) in the first 100 days; a project that more than half the community of Ohakune are against. The location is wrong, there was no consultation, the intensity and density in our small tourist town does not fit, jobs are seasonal, there isn't even a GP in the town. With no public transport, welfare payments for private transport would be required to transfer people out of town to the GP, more importantly the cost to tax payers for this project which is already expected to cost $2m more (likely to cost millions more) than the original $5.2m (for land development) and it hasn't even broken ground. The only reason this has gotten this far is because of backroom deals to spend government grants, not because of a critical need of Ohakune! A petition was accepted into parliament on 29th August with over 1200 signatures for a town with a population of around 1400, showing clear indication the people don't want this to destroy the community, our Carrot Park and the tourism that feeds this town. Continuing would create more welfare costs and turn this thriving tourist town into a ghost town.
We all agree social housing is needed across the country, including Ruapehu, but Ohakune was not the right location, or even the first choice for the funding, it was the last choice. Ohakune was the only option that met the criteria and more specifically, the timelines imposed for the funding. It was done in secrecy because Council wanted to spend the money on offer, but knew it would be contentious with the community. The original location for the spend was Taumarunui, where there is a great need for housing, year round jobs; existing social services, a Women's Refuge, a GP, etc. The reason Taumarunui did not proceed was because there were concerns about the land, with iwi, and that they wouldn't resolve the concerns in time for the funding.
With 12 individuals or families currently on the MSD wait list for Ohakune; perhaps you could redirect a portion of the funds to Ruapehu District Council, so they can purchase a few houses on the market, affordable & readily available to house people where there is a need. Buying houses off the market; are cheaper than the cost to build and could house people immediately, rather than in 3-4 years time.
I urge National to also re-look at the building standards and requirements for KO; they are set so high, that triple glazing is a requirement, something your mid and high income earners don't even have or consider. The standards KO have for new builds and acquiring second hand houses, are set so high means affordable solutions are not being considered; Houses working class people would happily move into with their families are considered unacceptable by KO.
I'm not saying standards should be dropped. Mould & dampness are very valid health concerns and should be retained and resolved, but there still needs to be housing available at different budget levels. Imposing certain criteria like room and house sizing, glazing, heating or insulation is a tenant decision when going to rent properties, it's a want not a need, for a social service. It's on a tenant whether they want to purchase a heater and spend money on the power for it, or to use a blanket.
By imposing overly high standards, you are forcing landlords that are charging cheap rent to people due to the state of the property, to spend a lot of money bringing it up to a certain level, thus those imposed changes, increase the cost of that properties rent. If a landlord is required to spend $30k on insulation, heating, etc; they need to recover the additional costs of the mortgage, maintenance, risk of damage to the asset, etc.
Comentarios