New Plymouth's mayor says there is mixed feeling in the community towards a "desperately" needed Kāinga Ora housing development.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Forty-five unit apartment blocks are being developed for Kāinga Ora in partnership with the Soho Group.
The project will include 21 one bedroom homes and 23 two bedroom homes.
The site will have 18 dedicated carparks, a community room to host services residents and there is potential for a playground to be developed on the shared greenspace too.
Construction is yet to start on the central city site but the development is expected to be move-in ready for whānau by mid-2023 but already there's naysayers in the community.
Housing NZ has also committed to building 128 new properties in Taranaki over the next few years, along with 40-50 transitional housing units.
New Plymouth Mayor Neil Holdom, who has been hearing from locals, says there is a desperate need to ease the competitive rental housing market.
He said the city had not experienced the "extreme" housing issues seen in other centres, despite having 700 families on the waiting list for social housing.
Holdom said rentals were being snapped up almost as soon as they hit the market.
However, residents of the area have hit back at the Kāinga Ora development, citing a lack of consultation from authorities.
The housing development had spiked fears that the introduction of social housing would lead to the devaluation of nearby properties.
Holdom said residents had nothing to fear but recognised they deserved to be properly consulted.
"We've got this issue where people in New Plymouth and Taranaki are used to having a bit of a consultation... I think some people were caught by a little surprise and have just raised some issues and look that's to be expected.
"Potentially people are afraid of something new and they might've seen the headlines of the worst case scenario but we know that there's a number of housing New Zealand properties in our district and we don't hear major problems with the tenants, these are our people as well."
The Kāinga Ora housing development, along with other Housing New Zealand developments, would help make ease the wider issue of the housing shortage in the area, he said.
However, the mayor said residents' concerns around the issue of parking were legitimate.
The development will include 68 bedrooms across different apartments but designated car parking will only allow space for 18 vehicles.
Holdom said that had lead to fears that 40-50 vehicles would have to battle for on-street parking as a result.
"The issue I have is that I think people were surprised, they didn't get the consultation they normally receive when something significant happens and I think they just want an opportunity to be heard."
Kāinga Ora was looking to manage tenants in a way that would reduce the issue of parking congestion and would be consulting surrounding residents about their concerns, he said.
Kāinga Ora is set to hold an online public meeting to address resident's concerns on 31 May.