Motels on Fenton St are among those getting emergency housing payments. Photo / File
More than $5.6 million has been spent on emergency housing and special needs grants in Rotorua during the past three months - a jump of nearly $1 million compared with the previous three months.
The spend is being described as out of control by Rotorua MP Todd McClay and will be one of the topics discussed at what is expected to be a heated public meeting on homelessness he is hosting in Rotorua on Monday.
Emergency housing grants fund people with no other housing options to go into places such as motels while special needs grants cover essential one-off spends.
The cost of emergency housing and special needs grants in Rotorua for the quarter covering September to December is more than any other area in the region, with grants in Tauranga costing $2.4m for the quarter.
Grants for the entire Bay of Plenty for the quarter ending September 2020, which also covered the Eastern and Western Bay areas, came to just over $9.1m
McClay said the taxpayer bill for emergency housing and the trouble it was causing locals would be discussed at his meeting for Glenholme residents at the Arawa Bowling Club on Monday from 5.30pm.
"The Government continues to say they are not using Rotorua as a dumping ground but residents and others are telling me these people are coming from elsewhere."
If Rotorua continued on this trend, McClay estimated emergency housing and special needs grants would cost taxpayers $20m a year for Rotorua alone.
"And that's just the motels. We know that through transitional housing and Kāinga Ora the Government is spending even more."
Ministry of Social Development Bay of Plenty regional commissioner Mike Bryant said its role was to meet the emergency housing need to ensure people weren't homeless.
"The ongoing rise in emergency housing special needs grants in Rotorua is a symptom of an ongoing shortage of affordable housing. The Covid period has also contributed to increasing demand for emergency housing.
"We have an important role to play in ensuring those in need have somewhere to stay and they are not sleeping in their cars or outside."
Bryant said there was a major programme of work underway aimed at increasing the supply of public housing and improving housing affordability and supply.
He said Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga (the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development) and Kāinga Ora were working to increase the supply of affordable and public housing.
This includes planning, and with Kāinga Ora, delivering more public housing, transitional housing, and services to tackle homelessness.
Bryant repeated earlier statements that Rotorua was not being used to house out of towners.
"As we've outlined previously, the vast majority of those we make emergency housing grants to are from Rotorua or the Bay of Plenty."
Waiariki MP and Māori Marty co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the country was facing a serious housing issue that was only getting worse in the Waiariki, and in particular Rotorua.
"The Government needs to trust that Te Arawa iwi and Rotorua council combined know what's best for their people. This means devolving the decision-making powers to them and getting out of the way.
"It's short-sighted to isolate the oranga of Rotorua to emergency housing. Te Arawa and Rotorua want to design and implement an enduring plan that doesn't end at emergency housing - a plan that focuses on the future of their uri beyond emergency housing. Te Arawa are in it for the long-haul - they need to be given the reins."
He said the Crown continued to work with a "siloed mentality'.
"It's not just about building homes. We need a complete wraparound response that addresses social and employment metrics. This requires Government agencies to start talking to one another and getting rid of the red tape that stifles development.
"$5.6m is a lot of money being spent (in Rotorua) in short-term solutions for an issue that is worsening by the day. The pressure must be applied to ensure this government focuses on investing in long-term solutions and giving the mana of these decisions to the people," Waititi said.
Labour list MP Tāmati Coffey from Rotorua said the figures showed it won't be a short journey to change local housing history.
"However, this Government is getting on with addressing the Waiariki's housing issues, with a multi-pronged approach that combines a responsive resource management system and more direct housing policies and solutions, including policies that are effectively targeted to the needs and aspirations of Māori.
"We have been building on our public housing programme with every budget, to the point we are on track to deliver an extra 18,350 public and transitional housing places by 2024 so people can move off the housing register as quickly as possible."
Coffey said demand for public housing and emergency housing was rising because of the shortage of housing, population increase, inadequate housing, homelessness and insecurity of tenure.
"We can't afford to take a one-size-fits-all approach to resolving this crisis ... Make no mistake, housing is a top priority for this Government. We will have more announcements on this kaupapa in the not too distant future."
Tauranga-based Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services executive director Tommy Wilson said with the rate Tauranga was growing, his city should have a higher rate of emergency housing needs, not Rotorua.
He was critical of Rotorua's emergency housing structure and said the Government-funded wrap-around services should be looked at.
"We put our people back in the community and they don't come back ... We had 2,600 families move to Tauranga, and everyone is moving there, so you would think these figures would be for Tauranga, not Rotorua. Why?"
Wilson said he believed Tauranga had "stemmed the flood of homelessness" by fixing the root of the problem.
"I think they (Rotorua) aren't fixing the people up and they are coming around again."
He said despite the ministry's assurances those in emergency housing in Rotorua weren't from Rotorua, that was not what he was hearing.
"The problem is they don't have iwi and hapū support because they're not from there."
He said his trust operated by becoming the whānau of the person and "adopting" them to work alongside them.
"You can't just take the funding, take them in and if it doesn't work put them out on the street again and take more funding for someone else. We focus on fixing them up so they don't come back."
In response to Wilson's comments, Bryant said the ministry congratulated Te Tuinga Whanau for the work it did in Tauranga.
"The increased need for emergency housing in Rotorua, like much of New Zealand, is a symptom of a shortage of affordable housing.
"All our communities have a range of challenges with many affected by supply and demand. It's worth noting that Tauranga has a greater transitional housing supply than Rotorua, which means more people can be placed.
"We have housing support providers across Bay of Plenty. We appreciate how difficult this work can be and try to support them to be as successful as possible.
"We're here to help and will continue to support our clients with their housing needs as we work with our communities and partner agencies."
He added that in the Bay of Plenty there were 12 senior case managers specialising in housing and eight navigators who were a single and consistent point of contact and provided one-on-one support for people living in emergency housing.
General case managers also regularly liaise with those in emergency housing.
The public housing options:
* Emergency housing – short-term stays, usually in a motel, funded by the Ministry of Social Development Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant. Grants are typically given for one week at a time, so staff and clients regularly meet to explore alternative options and long-term housing.
* Transitional housing – medium-terms stays with contracted providers. The Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development looks after transitional housing.
* Public housing – longer-term housing. Kāinga Ora and Community Housing Providers provide public housing.
The attached primary school is closed as investigators determine the cause.