Listen Now: 
December 13, 2022
Housing accord tough on Te Arawa says Waititi
Peter Verschaffelt
Posted On December 13, 2022
Download AudioWaiariki MP Rawiri Waititi says the Government has given Te Arawa a hospital pass with its Rotorua Housing Accord.
The Government, Rotorua Lakes Council, Te Arawa and Ngāti Whakaue have committed to work collaboratively to address Rotorua’s chronic housing shortage.
Housing Minister Megan Woods says the city’s population has increased by 9000 people since 2013 but only 1200 private homes have been built, and there was a net loss of public homes during the period of the last National Government.
Mr Waititi says it’s government which created the debacle of more than 1000 homeless people living in city hotels and motels, and he doesn’t want to see scarce iwi land used for new housing to clean up the mess.
“I acknowledge Ngati Whankaue and Te Arawa stepping up, They see it as their responsibility but in actual fact the Government needs to step up and put all the resources into building homes and starting to release Te Arawa of that and allow Te Arawa to rebuild and to become the tourist mecca it once was for the country,” he says.
Mr Waititi says the previous Rotorua Lakes Council was complicit in allowing the housing crisis, with one in four emergency housing places being in the city.
RELATED NEWS
