The Rotorua Daily Post is looking back at the stories of 2023. Here’s what made headlines in February
February 2:
Rotorua woman Kara Niles worried for the future of her family home after repeat flooding had made it uninsurable and potentially unlivable.
She said not a day went by where she did not think of the flooding threat and she believed the council should take responsibility for the issue.
The council said it had no obligation to fix the property’s flooding issues but had tried to help.
Niles lived with her family on Jervis St in a home they bought in 2019. There were no issues for the first two years, but that changed.
February 4:
While most Kiwis slumbered through the night, millions of viewers on the other side of the world awoke to the stirring sounds of pōhiri and the sights of geothermal mist rising from Rotorua’s Te Whakarewarewa Valley live on ABC News’ Good Morning America.
Good Morning America is the most-watched breakfast TV show in the United States, attracting more than three million viewers every day.
The live broadcast from Te Puia was part of a feature on Aotearoa New Zealand, highlighting the country as an unforgettable visitor destination that offers adventure, natural wonders and contemporary Māori culture.
The show’s coverage included visits to Queenstown, Fiordland and Auckland among others, with Te Puia being one of only two live broadcast locations in New Zealand.
February 6:
Te Whatu Ora Lakes district’s GPs were being outnumbered by enrolled patients by an average of about 1000-to-one and one doctor said there could be thousands more unenrolled patients around Rotorua.
There was an estimated average of 1000 enrolled patients per GP in the Te Whatu Ora Lakes District, recently released Ministry of Health data revealed.
The data, released at the end of January, recorded primary healthcare enrolments according to the patient’s district of residence and primary health organisation records.
In total, the data showed there were 114,290 people enrolled with GP practices in the Te Whatu Ora Lakes District, 829 patients more than at the end of 2019.
February 14:
Having little sleep and listening to the sound of trees cracking and crashing down around her is how Reni Clarke spent the night Cyclone Gabrielle swept through Rotorua.
Two trees tumbled down around her whānau home overnight, with one “hanging by a thread” across wires immediately outside the property of the long-time Sala St residents.
She estimated there were about 10 trees that fell around the street overnight, forcing the road’s closure and cutting power.
Clarke said she was staring in disbelief at the mess around her property but was grateful the trees did not fall on her house.
February 18
The number of homeless people living in Rotorua motels had nearly halved in the past year.
A government reporting dashboard, introduced towards the end of 2022, showed the number of households in Rotorua government-contracted and non-contracted emergency housing motels had gone from 703 in December 2021 to 353 in December 2022.
The biggest reductions had come from those in non-contracted motels – motels paid on a one-off basis by the Ministry of Social Development for people who said they had nowhere else to go.
The number of households in those motels reduced from 372 to 138.
February 23:
An iwi lands trust historically in the forestry business had flipped its focus to housing by announcing it would build 93 new homes on Māori land at Ōwhata as a way of getting Māori out of “heartbreaking” housing conditions.
The soil was officially turned at 21 Ōwhata Rd as the iwi owners celebrated a new $12.5 million partnership with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The land was owned by Ōwhata 2B and 7 Ahuwhenua Trusts which had begun a community project called Ōwhata Kōhanga Rākau Housing Initiative.
February 27:
Steph George was living proof that a little sacrifice can go a long way when it comes to buying your first home.
At just 27 years old, George had built her first home with Classic Builders in Rotorua.
It took her five years and two jobs, working 70 hours a week, to save up enough money for a house deposit.
George shared her story as a CoreLogic Housing Affordability Report revealed it was taking people in Rotorua nearly eight-and-a-half years to save for a deposit on their first home. And once they secured a home, they were spending a “record” 43 per cent of their household income on servicing their mortgage.
The Rotorua woman’s homeownership dream was built on sacrifice, research and hard work.
February 28:
Elderly people were couch surfing, living in their cars, or staying in overcrowded homes with whānau as more people retire without owning a home and remain trapped in a competitive rental market.
Social agencies said it was a hidden crisis and those asking for help were the tip of the iceberg. The news came after NZME earlier reported that some elderly were “absolutely going hungry” due to the high cost of living.
Age Concern Rotorua manager Rory O’Rourke said housing was an acute problem for the elderly and he knew of people who were ‘’desperate”.
“It is very, very stressful and if you are trying to survive on superannuation you haven’t got a dog’s show. We have got people living in vans and living in cars.”
Details revealed about five men caught up in an underage prostitution ring.