$39m Kaikohe infrastructure upgrade to help new home builds

New housing planned for Bisset Rd, Kaikohe, is part of the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund programme, and will follow a similar blueprint to Te Kohekohe, an affordable housing project.

A planned $39 million upgrade of Kaikohe’s stretched water infrastructure will enable more new homes in the town, Far North District Council says.

The new housing to be developed in Kaikohe is expected to begin from July this year, with the council providing $16m, while $23m will come from the Government’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF).

Kaikohe has a population of around 5000 but has a shortage of housing, particularly social housing. The council has set up a housing strategy to make it easier to build new homes to alleviate the housing shortage.

The IAF provides councils with funding to support the building and expansion of critical infrastructure essential for much-needed housing developments and commits councils and developers to constructing homes in areas of high need. Responsibility for maintaining existing water assets remains with local councils.

The funding was approved in November 2022 and was followed by investigations into potential locations for housing development in Kaikohe. Once existing infrastructure was evaluated, detailed design was undertaken before a tender process for construction could begin. These project stages took 24 months to complete.

FNDC said the funding will be used to extend the town’s reticulation system – underground pipes for water and wastewater connections to new properties – as well as upgrades to the Taraire Hills Water Treatment Plant which will improve connections to Matawii Dam and ensure resilience of fresh water supply to the town.

Water from Matawii Dam will be able to be pumped into nearby Kaikohe as part of an upgrade of water infrastructure in the town.

While details of the IAF project were being developed, the council has been forging ahead with other affordable housing projects in Kaikohe. A partnership between the council’s commercial arm, Far North Holdings Limited (FNHL) and Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi (THOON) enabled the construction of 60 community housing units by August last year in Kaikohe.

Te Kohekohe was opened over several stages with construction managed by FNHL, while THOON provided wrap-around support services for tenants. Te Kohekohe is understood to be the first housing complex in New Zealand to be co-owned and co-built between a council-owned organisation and iwi.

This successful blueprint for safe, warm, affordable housing will be repeated in Bisset Rd, Kaikohe, which is also part of the IAF programme. In Bisset Rd, 100 new homes are planned with construction set to begin this year on 40 of those.

Planning to provide infrastructure for housing developments in Kawakawa is also under way. Details will be released when they become available.

FNDC is developing a housing strategy to remove barriers to building new homes as 15.5% of residents live in overcrowded conditions. The large number of empty properties and those used as AirBnBs were also in the spotlight.

Far North District Council is to spend $39 million upgrading Kaikohe’s water infrastructure to allow more homes to be built.

Deputy Mayor Kelly Stratford, who heads the council’s housing portfolio with councillor Babe Kapa, said the council will not be building any houses. She said housing in parts of the district was dire.

The Far North population is projected to peak at 83,200 in 2049, but already 15.5% of the Far North population were living in overcrowded conditions. When it came to Māori, overcrowding in the Far North was at 27.6%.

The Far North district has a housing affordability index of 6.6, which is defined as severely unaffordable.

The council plans to work with iwi, hapū, developers and public housing agency Kāinga Ora to make building easier.