Whangārei social housing plans to meet increased lobbying from opponents over size and scale

Around 80 people turned up to the Golden Church, in Kensington, Whangārei, on Friday to express opposition to the size and scale of social housing planned for the suburb. Photo / Mike Dinsdale

Lobby, lobby, lobby... that’s the plan for residents opposing the size and scale of social housing planned for the Whangārei suburb of Kensington.

Around 80 people from the area attended a public meeting in the Golden Church on Friday evening to outline their concerns about plans for social housing in the area.

Housing agency Kāinga Ora plans to build 63 new homes on land it owns on Cairnfield Rd, Churchill St, King St, Kamo Rd and Lovatt Cres. Most of the sites will feature two- and three-storey blocks.

At Friday’s meeting, the group of residents said they felt their concerns over the size and scale of the project are not being heard.

Many at the meeting said they were not against social housing as after all, there is already plenty of social housing in and around the streets in question.

But they were concerned that the two- and three-story buildings would be out of character with the surrounding homes, would block daylight and risk privacy as residents would now have two- or three-storey homes overlooking their previously-private sections, and there would also be noise, traffic safety and stormwater concerns.

The meeting came after residents and ratepayers from the Kensington Development Group informally met with a Kāinga Ora community engagement representative last month around “vague, incomplete and minimal” information from the state housing body so far about the proposed social housing units.

Kāinga Ora has since lodged an application for resource consent for 3-7 Cairnfield Rd, and another application has been forwarded to the Whangārei District Council for 17-17A Cairnfield Rd, which the Advocate understands is being checked in accordance with section 88 of the Resource Management Act.

The Kensington Development Group has previously voiced concerns to MPs, councillors and Kāinga Ora about the proposals, due to the “size, scale, aesthetics and inadequate infrastructure”.

At Friday’s meeting, other residents echoed those concerns along with fears that the extra homes would increase traffic safety issues in the area and around stormwater flooding that occurred regularly on Cairnfield Rd.

One resident was worried that those living between the three-story blocks - which are less than 600 metres apart - would have their privacy invaded and would lose much of their natural daylight. The extra pressure on the “busy and dangerous” Cairnfield/Mill Rd intersection was also a worry.

Those at the meeting would continue to “lobby, lobby, lobby” councillors, MPS, Kāinga Ora and the council over their concerns.

Kāinga Ora Northland regional director Jeff Murray said the council had recently identified Kensington as one of the region’s high-growth areas.

To accommodate the predicted growth, the council rezoned Kensington to allow for medium-density housing such as low-rise apartments, walk-ups and terraced housing.

“This means issues like local character, infrastructure impacts and traffic have been considered when the District Plan was put out for consultation by the council,” Murray said.

“For our part, we appreciate this style of housing is a big change for the neighbourhood, and for some in the community will take some getting used to.”

Kāinga Ora wanted to reassure people that housing developments would all be “well-designed, modern and built to high standards”, he said, and Kāinga Ora would meet with the Kensington Development Group this week.