Signs of imminent removal and demolition of State housing blocks in Napier have appeared.
Fencing barricades have been erected around two properties near the Maraenui shopping centre. Worried community members say Government policy changes are already dislocating families in the area.
The properties on the corners of Darwin Crescent and Bledisloe Rd, one once the home of a community trust, are among more than 50 Housing New Zealand properties and units now vacant in the area as the Government department implements a plan to focus on desperate clients. It plans to remove some, and sell others, with a likely move of some to community housing providers.
Napier City Council ward representative Maxine Boag said as a result of the changes, some families on low incomes were already facing higher rents in the private market, or in the more extreme cases being housed in almost unlivable conditions in garages or overcrowded homes.
The concerns have been reflected in other communities faced with similar changes in Auckland, Gisborne and the Hutt Valley.
