The Premium Debate: Rotorua mayor's plan to address 'humanitarian crisis'

Rotorua's mayor says the city has a humanitarian crisis and needs more housing. Photo / Getty Images

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Rotorua mayor reveals plans to address city's 'humanitarian crisis' with 3000 homes in five years

Can't blame the council can you? Or can you? An awful lot of rates wasted, in my view, on vanity projects e.g. Mudtopia, Lakefront, sculpture, escalating costs on Howard Morrison Centre, museum, aquatic centre et all.
- David B

I'm curious about who is actually going to build these houses? There's a few different trades that go into a house build, and as far as I am aware, most are in short supply. Not to mention shortages of building supplies.
-Peter G

The inevitable result of the current vilification of and war on private rental housing providers, in my opinion. No landlords = no rentals.
-Peter L

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick. Photo / File

So much for building back better. Where did all these families/people come from? I believe many have relocated to Rotorua from other locations. So will there be more health, social resources and police etc to help manage the demand/impact of this? I doubt it.
-Gary S

The $40 million spent on the lakefront could have paid for a few houses to start with. The sculpture would also have gone a fair way toward another one.
- Kevin C

"850 families living in motels" - how on earth was it allowed to get to this?
-Brian H

In reply to Brian H: Failed housing policies. Government out of state housing in 1980s and the council housing. Property "investors" putting up rents to match accommodation supplements. Council zoning to protect current residents' properties (Nimby), property owners' resistance to rate rises needed for councils to provide infrastructure. NZ's property tax system being the most unfair in the western world (vs other investments) encouraging a landlord/tenant society. Structural unemployment never addressed from 1980s market reforms. Gangs and ever-rising drug dependency.
- Martin G

This Government's drive to control and centralise everything is an absolute fail in my view. Time to decentralise. Bring back charter schools, stop health centralisation, stop Three Waters infrastructure centralisation.

Government can't even organise a Covid passport in time. The Government should step aside and make way for members of the team that can actually kick a ball to score some goals.
- Daniel S

1.64 houses built every day of the year for five years to achieve this target. There is very little developed land available so the first few years of delivery will see little progress.
Hope I am wrong but the past is always a good indication of future performance.
Gary S