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Opponents of plans to build social housing in Millwater are pleased that their two-year battle with Kāinga Ora – Home and Communities is over.
This month, Kāinga Ora announced it would sell its land at 153 Bonair Crescent where it has resource consent to build 37 homes.
Kāinga Ora (the government agency that provides rental housing for people referred by the Ministry of Social Development) purchased the site in 2020. It obtained resource consent after making minor amendments to the consent granted to the site’s previous owner, Bonair Developments, in 2018. That original consent was for 38 two-bedroomed homes.
Issues raised by the community, which later formed the Bonair Action Group, included Kāinga Ora’s lack of consultation, the number of homes proposed for the 3500sqm site, the likely effect on house prices in the area and the potential for an increase in anti-social behaviour and crime.
The group expressed a preference for KiwiBuild to build on the site.
In a press release on March 14, Kāinga Ora said that delivering homes on that site was no longer financially viable because of the increasing costs facing builders and developers.
Auckland and Northland deputy chief executive, Caroline Butterworth said the investment in Millwater no longer stacked up and that selling made the best economic sense.
Butterworth said Kāinga Ora remained committed to exploring opportunities to increase the supply of public housing on the Hibiscus Coast to help provide homes for families on the housing register.
A Bonair Action Group spokesperson said it was the right decision, and that the fact that Kāinga Ora’s process had initially ignored the community was what prompted the strong response.
“We hope that, moving forward, Kāinga Ora are more diligent in engaging with the community swiftly after purchasing land for development,” the spokesperson said.
