Government buys land for housing
Great to see this happen but I do wonder how long before we see houses being built on this land.
The Government has bought more than four hectares of vacant land at Kāpiti Coast’s Raumati Beach to build about 100 new public houses for the area.
It has spent $10 million to buy the 4.6-hectare vacant plot of land on Raumati Rd. Plans for the number and type of homes are still being developed but the Government is hoping to address the historically low levels of public housing in Kāpiti.
“This purchase will ultimately mean more families have a place to call home and demonstrates our commitment to resolving the housing challenges facing the Kāpiti Coast District,” said Housing Minister Megan Woods.
“It is clear that we need to take further steps to address housing in the region, and by tackling it now, we can prevent problems that will potentially compound and worsen in the coming years.”
The Kāpiti Coast District has a long problem of unaffordable housing. A housing stocktake by the district council earlier this year showing housing prices were skyrocketing and people were sacrificing necessities for rent.
It also found out there were not enough public housing available for a growing waitlist – demand doubled each year from 2016 to 2020.
As of June, 195 families were on the waiting list for public homes, but the number could be unrepresentative of demand as many don’t put themselves on the register.
Māori households were twice as likely to be living in social housing in the district.
The Government’s purchase follows Kāinga Ora opening public housing for the first time in two years in October by completing two new houses in Paraparaumu’s Kaitawa Cres. A further two houses were expected to be open at nearby Hinemoa St by the end of the year.
“Kāinga Ora will continue to work closely with Kāpiti District Council, local iwi and local residents on how best to make sure these homes support the local community and new residents,” Woods also said.
Kāpiti Coast mayor Janet Holborow said she welcomed any Government initiative that would help the district fix its housing issues.
“The need for a range of social housing solutions, particularly in the wake of Covid-19, far outpaces current supply locally,” she said.
“We know that housing stress in Kāpiti is widespread and negatively impacting a range of wellbeing factors like education, community connectedness and employment.”
The district council’s Housing Strategy, which was approved in May, also said it would review existing council land to see if more social housing could be built and actively work with housing providers and iwi to explore development opportunities.
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Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Poll: If we want to reduce speeding, what do you think actually changes driver behaviour? 🛻🚨🚓
In the Post's article on speeding penalties, the question is asked whether speeding fines are truly about road safety, or are they just a way to boost revenue for the Crown?
What do you think? Should speeding motorists receive speeding fines or demerit points?
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31.9% The sting of a fine (Money talks!)
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68.1% The threat of demerit points (Nobody wants to lose their license!)
Landscape Builders
Hi Neighbors,
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Some highlights:
Custom bamboo planter box with inbuilt seats, creating a uniform structure with the deck. This is a lovely large structure which we are excited to see evolve as it gets planted out.
Custom garden shed built to meet the requirements of the high-wind/sea zone, but also clad with recycled palings. This was purposed as a planting and propagating shed, with polycarbonate roofing to allow natural light to enter.
Bamboo deck and stairs leading into another planting zone, Linking the back Area to the front.
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Thanks,
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