Lizzy and Allen Street are two residents concerned about the development of more mental health housing on Riverbend Road. Photo / Paul taylor
Lizzy and Allen Street are two residents concerned about the development of more mental health housing on Riverbend Road. Photo / Paul taylor
An extension of a Napier social housing development for people struggling with mental health has run into opposition from the neighbours across the road.
Whatever It Takes (WIT), a mental health peer support service in Hawke's Bay, currently has five duplex houses for clients in Riverbend Rd, on the ruralfringe of the city.
It has now been granted resource consent to build another five.
Although it has the resource consent, a WIT spokeswoman said it was still "investigating" whether social housing on the land owned by WIT on Riverbend Rd was possible.
"Currently we are completing due diligence to ascertain this, with our next steps being geotech reports."
The plans for the additional development on Riverbend Road. Photo / Napier City Council
WIT declined to comment further, until could confirm the development would go ahead.
Riverbend Rd resident Lizzy Street found out about the potential for development, which would be on main rural-zoned land, last week and says she's concerned.
Street said at the time of the original build "We were told [by WIT] there were going to be 10 units and that was it, no more."
Street said the development would spoil the area's rural nature, and while she understood such housing could be beneficial, it wasn't the right place for it.
"I don't want it right outside my bedroom window and right outside my door," she said.
"We cope with the 10 [people] we've got, but we will not be able to cope with another 10," she said.
"It's not because of the mental health issue, it's because it's simply not suitable," she said.
WIT is a registered social housing provider through Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and provides social housing across Hawke's Bay to mental health clients, ensuring they have affordable, warm, safe housing on a long-term basis.
Napier City Council granted the project resource consent in July 2019.
It did not meet the threshold to require public notification, the consent says.
The application to NCC said buildings would be 10m and 17m minimum from Riverbend Rd.
The application said a "pittosporum hedge will be established alongside the road boundary fence to screen the units from the road – as an extension of the existing boundary hedge".
It also said residents of the facility will not have private vehicles and are supported by their case-manager on an on-call basis.
