Jo Raphael: Rugby club housing plan perfect example of blue-sky thinking

A housing development is proposed on land on Kawaha Point Rd. Photo / Andrew Warner

OPINION

We hear it all the time: we need more houses; there’s a homelessness crisis; demand is outstripping supply.

Well, the obvious answer is to build more houses, right?

It’s well-perceived that Rotorua has a shortage of land suitable for large-scale housing developments.

In reality, there is a fair bit of subdivision activity happening in our city - have a look around.

It’s hopefully about to have one more, if it can get across the line.

Necessity is the mother of invention - and that’s where the local rugby club comes in.

This week, the Rotorua Lakes Council unanimously approved a proposal to free up a little-known strip of land to build more houses. It also gave more certainty for a disused rugby field to be developed at the Waikite Rugby Club.

The council voted to progress with the proposed development and declare the land surplus, as well as use a request-for-proposals process to find a preferred developer.

It also voted on the development of a sports field at Boielle Park. The Waikite Rugby and Sports Club would be the primary user.

The 8000sq m council-owned strip of land runs parallel to the old train tracks and is home to a few grazing horses, but it could soon be the site of 31 new homes.

However, the idea to transform a disused secondary training field at a rugby club into possibly 55 sections is genius.

The council’s urban development partnerships strategic lead, Stephanie Kelly, says Boielle Park is a significant reserve but it is not attractive to the public.

If a sports field is there, however, she says it would offer benefits for the club and community.

I agree wholeheartedly.

If the plan goes ahead, a new sports field would be created, the council land will be developed, as will the old field, and it’s hoped that some of the housing will be made available for kaumātua.

As councillor Rawiri Waru said at the council meeting, it’s a win-win.

The club’s future will be more solid with a plan to retain ownership of most of the houses.

This allows it to bring its ageing facilities back to a high standard; much-needed houses will be built and the council will be seen to be addressing the housing shortage.

It’s this kind of blue-sky thinking we need more of - who knew that a strip of horse paddocks and an underutilised rugby pitch could become part of the solution to the housing shortage?