Rotorua emergency housing: Residents talk of distress and anxiety

Carolyne Hall opposes the seven consent applications to extend contracted emergency housing. Photo / Andrew Warner

Rotorua residents are “battle-weary” from emergency housing hearings, a lobby group lawyer says.

A three-day hearing began on Tuesday for submissions on whether the Government should be able to extend seven emergency housing motel consents by a year.

Independent commissioner David Hill will consider the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s applications to keep seven emergency housing motels operating in Rotorua for up to another year after 13 motel resource consents granted in 2022 expire in December.

All but one of the 37 submitters oppose the applications.

The bulk of the first day centred on the ministry’s evidence, which included how it believed issues would worsen if the consents were not extended.

On Wednesday Rotorua Lakes Council’s evidence drilled down on some details such as specific conditions for motels.

It said it would work with the ministry on things including the strengthening of alcohol policies and how it could improve play areas at motels within a year, as well as working on details around an exit strategy.

The council’s planning and consenting team lead, Lorelle Barry, said the consented motels overall had a high degree of compliance and direct complaints to the council related to things like noise and illegal parking.

Independent commissioner David Hill at the hearing on Tuesday. Photo / Laura Smith

Consultant Rebecca Foy gave evidence on the social impact of emergency housing in motels, and agreed with the ministry it was difficult to prove whether issues near motels were attributable to residents of contracted or non-contracted motels.

She noted submitters’ evidence showed a perception that using motels as emergency housing created adverse social wellbeing effects in the community.

Impacted property sale and distrust in process

Submissions from individuals included issues such as a desire to see increased reporting of motel occupancy, disbelief all motel residents were locals, and distrust in the process and the agencies involved.

Violent confrontations, public begging and inner city instances of public urination and defecation were all attributed to emergency housing by several submitters.

Lobby group Restore Rotorua also submitted that it did not want the consents granted.

Member and Glenholme property owner Carolyne Hall said it was fighting the “Goliaths” of the council and ministry.

She said it was the residents who were the real experts.

Hall described how this year she put the family home up for sale. In June, 24 hours before the sale was to go unconditional, her lawyer emailed that the buyer was pulling out having found the consent for emergency housing in the LIM report relating to the property behind hers.

She described how contracted emergency housing motels took a toll on her family - physically and emotionally - and now a financial loss.

Restore Rotorua chairman Trevor Newbrook said the group supported people being placed into housing, but not into motels, which were deemed unsuitable as a long-term solution.

Restore Rotorua legal counsel Bridget Bailey focused on the “lived experiences” of the wider residents - their disappointment in having to engage in the process again and how despite their evidence the consents were granted in 2022.

There were nearly 4000 submissions from 350 submitters then. There were more than 100 from 37 submitters this year.

Bailey said there were fewer submissions from the community as they felt “battle weary” and had distrust in the process.

In 2022 they were given a “light at the end of the tunnel” and there was a feeling the ministry was not being held accountable on its consent requirement to exit the hotels this year.

She said the anxiety and dread was as real now as it was in 2022 and it was “wholly unacceptable” to continue for another year.

Bailey said off-site antisocial behaviour was a “very predictable” consequence.

Nearby residents were unsafe in their own homes or going on walks in their neighbourhoods, seeing fights, increased police presence, experiencing trespassers, seeing rubbish and trolleys used by the motel occupants.

Those residents were the experts on the negative impacts, she said, as they experienced it daily and the last two years showed those impacts were “very real”.

Restore Rotorua legal counsel Mai Chen said at the very least, there had been psychological harm done to the residents.

The seven contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua seeking resource consent extensions until December 15, 2025. Photo / Kelly Makiha

Her evidence included a heavy focus on what the group believed was a lack of detail provided in the consent applications, particularly relating to the scale-down of motel use.

“It is simply too conjectural in the face of community pain it presently experiences.”

Residents had little trust or confidence in the process this time around, she said, and they wanted black and white details.

The applications were not bespoke but all seven were the same, she said, and did not reflect the Government stance of only having four motels in use by mid-2025.

“This is about people’s lives. This is about psychological harm done ... they’ve already had four years of this.”

She did not believe there was enough evidence there was a plan to exit the motels in a year.

The hearing will wrap up today.

Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist since 2019.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.