My Account
Social housing impacts
Geoff Hansen, Hatfields Beach (abridged)
In my humble view, the rise in house prices in NZ is the greatest disaster to happen in NZ in the last hundred years and the social cost has been dramatic indeed. Why was it not named for what it was – inflation? This has divided NZ like never before as the ratio between incomes and house prices go to another stratosphere of ridiculousness. Suddenly the demand for emergency housing became extreme and understandable. We homeowners want the “benefits” of rising house prices but ignore the dramatic consequences and dark downside. These high prices evoke a smugness that somehow we earned this money through wisdom and forethought. It makes me think of a great line in the movie The Joker – “They expect us to be good little boys, and not go Werewolf” –no wonder there are ram raids and loss of respect for law and authority, in this divided society. Can we not understand a little of the people in social housing and what “they” think of “us”, (the complaining beneficiaries) and the attitude to the homeowners and rent-takers?As per the Beatles song Come Together, in understanding – please come together New Zealanders! I’m glad I’m old. Good luck young people.
Social housing welcomed
Dean Reynolds, Ōrewa
I’m writing to support Kainga Ora’s proposed social housing development of 37 homes at Millwater. I grew up in Hurstmere Rd, between Takapuna & Milford, (now called ‘the golden mile’). There were four social houses opposite our house and each of those tenants and their children made a positive contribution to the local community. The objections of the local MP, Mark Mitchell, can be ignored – he’s simply grand standing and politicking. He will be quick to criticise the Government if it doesn’t tackle the housing crisis. I note that Mitchell was a cabinet minister in the Key government which built a net total of 43 new social houses in 9 years – a pathetic track record. As a local ratepayer and taxpayer, I look forward to a positive outcome of this discussion and the speedy building of the 37 Kainga Ora homes at Millwater.
Penlink makes things worse
Paul Dobson, Stanmore Bay (abridged)
I am a resident of Cedar Terrace, Stanmore Bay. Currently getting in and out of Cedar Terrace can be impossible at times, and you need to consistently take a large risk to do this. Traffic coming down the hill on Whangaparāoa Road is typically faster than the 50km speed limit. And due to the bend in the road, visibility of the traffic is very bad. Which means you have less than a few seconds to enter this traffic. The design of Penlink will make this much worse as it will increase the corner angle and thus the visibility will be reduced. I suggest that the Penlink designers bring their cars along and test this for themselves – at about 8.30am to get a real feeling of what is like to take your life into your hands. One solution would be to close off Cedar Terrace at this intersection and make access via Norfork Road, although some work needs to be done on the Scott Road and Whangaparāoa intersection, as this intersection is also very bad. One low cost temporary solution could be to reduce traffic speed to 30km, but this needs to be put in-place today, to ensure the risk of death is reduced.
A Waka Kotahi spokesperson responds: Over the past few months, the O Mahurangi – Penlink alliance has engaged with a number of residents, including those in Cedar Terrace about the refined design. In these conversations, we’ve been told that due to serious safety concerns, residents currently don’t turn right out of Cedar Terrace onto Whangaparāoa Road. Instead, they prefer to use Norfolk and Scott Street for a clearer line of sight. We understand this concern and now that it has been brought to our attention, we will make it a priority to actively discuss a solution with Auckland Transport as the local roading authority.
Estimates too high
Liz Martin Lauder, Red Beach (abridged)
Recently I complained to Watercare when my bills were too high. They were based on an estimated reading from summer, when we use more water for things such as watering the garden. When I called I learned that meter reading occurs every second month and was last done at the end of March this year. Due to Covid, Watercare told me, the company that reads the meters has had a lot of staff off sick. As a result the meters were estimated for April, May, June, July, August and September. In my case this resulted in a billing of double my actual reading. As a result of my call an amended bill was sent to me, in credit for just under two months’ normal winter water consumption. My issue as a consumer is that I was not advised of the lack of actual meter readings to occur over what will effectively span six months. These estimates in most cases will be inflated based on summer usage and therefore consumers will likely have been paying too much over the winter period. Consumers were not advised of this change or given the option of reading their own meter each month if possible. Why not invoice people based on their usage for the same months last year – the winter months? It’s important for consumers to know this as a lot of people are struggling and this reduces their disposable cash flow over this crucial time. I know of others who have been affected similarly.
Watercare head of retail operations Davy Suratsingh replies: Our normal billing cycle involves an actual water meter reading every second month, with a bill based on estimated usage in between. This helps us to keep costs down. We try to read 240,000 meters a month, but in recent months, a combination of Covid-19 isolation requirements and winter illness has meant our meter readers could not get out to read as many meters as normal. This means some of our customers have had consecutive estimates. If consecutive estimates have been lower than actual usage, customers may face a larger-than-normal bill when the meter is next read. On the other hand, if some estimates have been higher than actual usage, they will have a lower bill when the meter is read. We understand this situation is not ideal, and are trying to address this by placing priority for meter readings on customers who have not had their meter read for some time. One option available to customers is to submit their own meter readings by text, so we encourage anyone who hasn’t had their meter read for a while to get in touch with us about setting up this service.
Safest street ever?
Robert Smith, Manly (abridged)
Driving along Laurence Street in Manly recently I noticed Council had installed double yellow lines down the centre, for a considerable length of the road. Now if there are cars parked on the kerb in these areas, drivers are forced to break the law to pass and drive along this popular road. Is Council now going to install no stopping broken yellow lines adjacent to the centre road markings to prevent turning normal drivers into law breakers?
Auckland Transport spokesperson Natalie Polley replies: Laurence Street used to have speed cushions, and motorists were observed to be straddling them by crossing over the centreline, significantly increasing the risk of a serious crash. As safety is always our top priority, double lines were put as it meant police could start enforcing these illegal crossing behaviours to keep drivers safe. Later, the cushions were upgraded to speed humps. The road code states that the double yellow lines can be crossed to turn into a property or bypass a parked vehicle – as long as it’s safe to do so.
