Rangiuru Rd resident Colleen Pye at the site in question. Video / Mead Norton
Te Puke residents claim their concerns about a halfway house for offenders - including ex-prisoners - planned for their rural neighbourhood have been “stonewalled” by the Government, leaving them without “a leg to stand on”.
The Department of Corrections - Ara Poutama Aotearoa - plans to open the residential service facility at 240 Rangiuru Rd in April, housing up to 15 men returning to the community from prison, or serving a community sentence or order. Resource consents reveal up to 25 residents and five staff could live onsite 24/7.
Kāinga Ora bought the property on behalf of Corrections, which would lease it. The service would be run by specialists helping men transition from prison back into society during stays of up to 18 months - though more likely six to 12 months.
Corrections said it consulted the community and tried to mitigate concerns. The facility would be scaled up in stages, would have strict entry criteria and rules for residents, and men with high or complex needs or convictions for sexual offending would not be eligible.
Rangiuru Community Group and neighbourhood support coordinator Colleen Pye said residents had several concerns, including how such an isolated rural environment would help the men reintegrate.
“Our neighbours are one kilometre apart. How on earth are you going to integrate in a community like that?” she said.
“If those men can have a leg up and reintegrate into society, that’s great, but would they not be better off where they can wander to the supermarket to buy their bits and pieces and not have to wait for a shuttle?
In her view: “It just doesn’t make a lot of sense - putting 15 men who have problems together in an isolated environment. I know they talk about wraparound services but that only goes so far.”
Pye said there were also concerns crime would increase, that some men would not have any local links, and that the good intentions behind the facility would fall over.
The biggest upset for the community, however, was a perceived lack of genuine consultation, Pye said.
In her view: “They did the tick boxes ... but there was never any thought ‘would we change our ideas about what we are doing?’.
Pye said the community had struggled to find answers as to how a respite care residence could be converted into a Corrections facility.
“Unfortunately we were told that council were happy with it and we didn’t have a leg to stand on, really,” Pye said.
“Being a small community against a very large Government department, we have asked for things and just been stonewalled with generic answers.”
In Pye’s view, Corrections “made up [its] mind two years ago”.
She said she believed facilities like this were needed but this rural location was not appropriate and if things did not go to plan, it would come at a cost to the local community.
Richard Weld, who leases farmland on Rangiuru Rd, echoed her concerns, particularly about crime.
“My biggest concern is the people it will attract to that property, the visitors, etc. They say they will fully scrutinise the people coming in but I don’t believe that’s going to happen.”
Weld said he had found bags of drugs around the property before and was concerned visitors could leave more or potentially be “canvassing the area” - a worry heightened by a lack of nearby police.
“We’ve got a school down the road, two marae, another school up the road, a lot of elderly single people. These people - how well are they being looked after by this?” he said.
“The intentions are good but the location is the problem.”
Weld said about 400 people signed a petition against the facility and there had been meetings about the plans but in his view, “it’s just like we have no say on our little local community”.
“They have done all the work but they haven’t listened.”
In 2019, a Corrections plan for a facility on Burrows St, off Tauranga’s 15th Ave, was scuppered after more than 1000 objections. About 100 community offenders would have reported to it each weekday.
In December of that year, the Western Bay of Plenty District Council approved Corrections’ application for a variation to the existing resource consent for the Ranginui Rd property.
Council environmental consents manager Natasha Ryburn said the original consent for land use was lodged in 2005 to establish a residential facility for people with social and emotional disabilities. It was varied in 2015 to cater for mental health patients and RSE workers, increasing the number of residents from 25 to 35.
In December 2019, Corrections’ application to use the land for community residential transition housing - people transitioning from the prison system to independent living - was approved without changes from the council. It capped the number living on-site to 30, including five night staff.
In December 2020, Rangiuru Rd resident Martin Strickland wrote to Western Bay councillors and the Te Puke Times dismayed that he and his neighbours had only just learned of the plans, which were of “great surprise and shock”.
Strickland said the community met “and overwhelmingly rejected having a facility on its road”. He was concerned its “many elderly, frail and unwell residents” could be at risk of being victimised.
Rangiuru resident representative Colleen Pye says she doesn’t believe the community’s concerns were taken seriously by the Department of Corrections which will set up a new facility. Photo / Mead Norton
Department of Corrections district manager Mark Cleaver said the decision for the centre followed “extensive engagement” with Tapuika Iwi Authority and the local community. The service would contribute to safer communities as men were better supported to make positive changes to their lives, he said.
The Manaaki Support Services staff operating the service were expected to live onsite 24/7 to help offer wraparound support.
It would start “with a small number of men, gradually scaling up to offer a maximum of 15 places”, Cleaver said.
“We are committed to being the best neighbours that we can be and minimising any disturbances.”
Cleaver said it had listened to community concerns and tried to mitigate them. Steps included more security cameras, iwi input, limited residents for the first 12 months “to ensure the service is scaled up appropriately”, establishing a community liaison group and “priority placement” of men with local whakapapa.
“Everyone using the service must meet a strict set of criteria, including evidence that they are committed to their rehabilitation and living crime-free.
“Men with high and complex needs or convictions for sexual offences ... will not be eligible.”
The centre is part of the department’s Housing and Support Services programme, which began in 2018 for people needing accommodation and extra help to rehabilitate. The offenders who would live at the Rangiuru Rd site were expected to be ready and committed to transitioning into the Bay community.
On its website, the department states the region’s housing and accommodation shortage made it difficult to find suitable properties.
It reviewed “several” options and the Ranginui Rd property was the “best” because it had provided similar residential services previously including for men with community-based sentences, being largely private and having “minimal direct impact on neighbours”.
In response to the concerns raised, Corrections central region operations director Vickie Burgers said providing stable accommodation was crucial to successfully reintegrating people into society, helping them remain crime-free.
There were many residential reintegration support services in New Zealand.
“The reality is that without supported accommodation, people could be homeless and living on the streets or in cars. This would present an unacceptable safety risk to communities.”
Burgers said consultation began at the end of 2020 but was hampered by Covid-19. It included two, 200-letter drops, community drop-in sessions, meetings and close engagement with groups including schools. She said a community open day would be held bfeore the opening and a community liaison group would be set up.
Safety measures included 24/7 onsite supervision and support, monitored security cameras, curfews and bans on drugs and alcohol.
“Public safety is paramount and no person would be permitted to reside at an address if it was considered that the risk could not be safely managed.
She said residents would be carefully selected and must be motivated to reintegrate. There would be no tolerance for antisocial behaviour or breaches of house rules, she said.
Corrections was talking to local employers about job opportunities for the men using the service.
“We know that giving people 24/7 support and assistance with employment, education, training and life skills they will be more successful in their safe transition back to the community. This is what this service will provide.”
