Protest signs appeared on vacant land near Wylie Court this month. Photo / File
Glenholme residents are calling for a transparent process with any future plans to house the homeless on Fenton St.
A plan to create transitional housing for the homeless at Wylie Court fell over earlier this month but Jenny Peace, who is behind an online petition to the council, said the fight to stop transitional housing in the area was not over.
The council says Fenton St had been approved as a future area for residential development with the view of moving tourist accommodation to the inner city as part of the 2018 Spatial Plan.
It says the Resource Management Act and resource consent process can't consider the perceptions of types of people who may be living in any type of housing and with 741 Rotorua people on the housing register, Rotorua needs more houses to solve the housing crisis.
Kāinga Ora announced on August 21 it was no longer going ahead with a plan to turn the vacant Wylie Court, which had 37 units, into transitional housing.
The government housing agency had applied to the council for a land-use change as the Fenton St site's zoning didn't allow for permanent housing.
The plan sparked a public backlash because some locals didn't want to see permanent housing of the homeless in a tourist area. There were also concerns about crime rising in the area.
Kāinga Ora said on Friday it had no "ongoing interest" in the Wylie Court motel because an agreement with the owner had not been reached.
The site is owned by Te Arawa Group Holdings. The company has been approached for comment several times.
The Rotorua Daily Post revealed last week the council had granted resource consent to Kāinga Ora on July 9 to allow the Boulevard Motel to be used for transitional housing under the District Plan. That consent process wasn't publicly notified.
The petition to the council calling for a notified public process was launched after the Wylie Court plan was revealed by the Rotorua Daily Post on August 20.
Peace said residents needed to be informed if there were any future transitional housing plans for the area.
She said there was vacant land along Fenton St that could be used and other motels which could be turned into permanent homeless housing.
The Rotorua Daily Post asked the council for the number and locations for any approved land-use change consents that had either been granted or were being considered.
The council responded it would consider the request under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act
Peace said her petition wasn't against finding homes for the homeless but it was against that being done on Fenton St, which was a gateway to Rotorua.
Her petition had more than 1850 signatures and specifically called on the council to "ensure a full, open and transparent process for any decisions around zoning and consent changes to Fenton St Rotorua and surrounding areas".
"We need to keep the momentum up for our petition. Abandoning plans for Wylie Court is only part of it. The council needs to be held to account. We require transparency and public notification for any plans regarding the Fenton St area," Peace said.
Council district development deputy chief executive Jean-Paul Gaston said latest figures showed there were hundreds of people without a permanent place to call home, and a large number of those were children.
Planners needed to follow the statutory process set out by the Resource Management Act, not what was requested in a petition, he said.
"This is national legislation and it's important that the processing planners remain impartial and objective when following that process. Businesses, developers and individuals all experience the same professional assessment when applying for consents."
He listed a range of factors why people needed housing support including rising rents, rising house prices, the impact of Covid-19 and a growing population.
"We are starting to see other centres, such as Napier and Hamilton, that are experiencing the same challenges as Rotorua, respond to those challenges by working with Kāinga Ora to develop housing in well-connected urban areas."
He said the District Plan allowed, through a resource consent process, for motels on Fenton St to be converted to housing.
During the processing of any resource consent application, the planner considered whether the application needed to be notified or not. Among other things, the decision stemmed from the level of relevant adverse environmental effects that a new activity proposed.
Gaston said a resource consent process provided a mechanism to ensure, for example, if a temporarily converted motel was suited to residential living. He said that included ensuring there were appropriate living conditions and management plans to address security and on-site operational requirements, such as noise, amenity areas, hours of operation and parking.
"The Resource Management Act and resource consent process cannot take into consideration the perceptions of types of people who may be living in any type of housing."
He said environmental effects would be in relation to the new activity or the number of people living there, not who those people might be perceived to be.
It's been identified that Rotorua needed 1700 homes, including transitional and public housing.
He said through the Spatial Plan that was adopted in 2018 following public consultation, Fenton St was acknowledged as a future area of residential development. The plan outlined the potential to transition the accommodation on Fenton St to residential areas and move tourist accommodation into the inner city.
He said Kāinga Ora had intensified its involvement in Rotorua to get more houses and this work was happening across the district, not just on Fenton St. It was expected about 190 homes would be "delivered" in Rotorua by 2024 under the Public Housing Plan.
Peace said although her petition targeted the council, she wanted Kāinga Ora to keep residents informed of their intentions at the planning stages, not when it was a "done deal".
In response, Kāinga Ora Bay of Plenty regional director Darren Toy said when it had plans and proposals for new housing and were in a position to share them with neighbours, the wider community and stakeholders, it did.
"Our approach will depend on what's planned and its significance, and I want to thank those people and communities in Rotorua who have offered support and been welcoming of the work we and our partners are doing.
"I make no apology for the efforts and progress being made to find safe, warm and dry places and homes for Rotorua whānau and tamariki to live, and we will continue this work with urgency."
The annual event means closures for some lanes on the city's harbour bridge.