Anger at resthome's switch to drug rehab clinic

By WAYNE THOMPSON

Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey told a meeting of 250 angry Te Atatu Peninsula residents last night that the council had no choice but to approve a resthome becoming a rehabilitation centre for alcoholics and drug addicts.

Residents are angry they have not been consulted about the new use of Totara Park Resthome in a residential area.

But Mr Harvey told the meeting that his council "had done our shirts on legal challenges" and was wary of causing more.

The city was suffering an epidemic of the drug P being sold by Russian gangs to kids on the streets of Henderson, said Mr Harvey.

Police, fire and health professionals had given the Higher Ground Rehabilitation Trust a clean bill of health for what they did.

Te Atatu MP and Conservation Minister Chris Carter said that in his nine years as an MP all sorts of health facilities had been opposed by residents at first but none had given cause for complaint later.

Stuart Anderson of the trust said the building was not a detox centre, but it was for an 18-week residential recovery programme for people who volunteered to battle their addictions.

The home would offer 36 beds with two people in a room.

During the day, trained counsellors were on hand and after-hours supervisors ensured that safety and a therapeutic environment were maintained.

Higher Ground was running a similar programme for 25 in a big house in St Georges Bay Rd, Parnell.

It had operated there since 1989 - without troubling neighbours - but had outgrown its dormitory-style premises.

Residents said they were angry that their elected councillors had left it to council planning officers to approve use of the resthome.

They feared for their safety and property values.

A Waitakere City Council spokesman said it granted a request for a certificate of compliance for the building to be used for a similar activity to elderly people living quietly in a resthome.