A Whakatāne pensioner plans to go to arbitration with Kāinga Ora over the government agency's plans to develop the section he is living on.
Kāinga Ora wants to move Kevin Cooper's rental and build another three houses on the section. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Kevin Cooper said it was "like getting hit with a sledgehammer" when he was told by his tenancy manager that he would have to move again. The 18 months of upheaval he endured when the Kāinga Ora-owned house was retrofitted recently has left him with additional health problems.
He will also mourn the loss of the cherry, peach, lemon and other trees he has planted since living there and which provide him with fruit and shade.
"They're not just going to move me out, they're going to tear down all my trees. They're going to tear down 23 years of my life. This is my home. I brought my son up here."
He said he has hardly left his home since the pandemic began, because, due to his lung and heart conditions, he fears he would be susceptible to Covid-19.
"This place is special to me, it is my sanctuary," he said.
His 1940s' home is one of two adjoining houses on the front half of two neighbouring 700-square-metre sections in Whakatāne. The two homes have large backyards and Kāinga Ora announced publicly last week that it had plans to develop the two sections, moving the existing duplex to the back of the sections and building three new homes at the front.
Kevin O'Connor is concerned about the loss of all his fruit trees and other plantings he has done over the years. Photo: LDR / Supplied
Agency wants to help ease housing shortage
In a written statement, Kāinga Ora Bay of Plenty regional director Darren Toy said the agency had a major role to play in building new and renovating older state homes to bring them up to standard to help solve the problem of a significant public housing shortage.
"We are often able to intensify the number of greatly needed homes by building more on our existing land. That will be the case here."
Cooper feels it will mean the upheaval he has gone through over the past 18 months that has resulted in a decline in his health has been for nothing. He said it was wasteful spending and he would be devastated to see the past two decades of his life "ripped apart".
When he signed his tenancy agreement when he first moved in, he was told that it was long-term and he could stay there for the rest of his life if need be. He said he was assured on several occasions that no other houses would be built on the property.
Though he has been promised he will be able to move back into his home after the work has been done, he has no idea how long this could take, when it will happen or where he will be placed in the meantime.
He suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder from past violence in his life.
"What they are doing is affecting my health in a big way. I have been diagnosed with a heart condition that my doctor has attributed to stress over the past year."
He said the disruption began 18 months ago when Kāinga Ora brought in contractors to retrofit the home adjoining his. He had to be persuaded to move out of his home while it was worked on. He was moved into the newly renovated home next door.
He said, for a year, he had to deal with contractors blaring a stereo from 8am each day. When he complained he became a target for abuse from them, including one woman telling him to get off his backside and get a job.
When he was moved back into his home, he said they had not done the job as he had been shown on plans and the section that he has taken care of for years was in a mess with grass left to grow to knee height, broken fences, gardens destroyed, and rubbish, offcuts of wood and beer bottle caps left all over the backyard.
Just as life was starting to get back to normal, he was delivered the news that he was going to be "hauled out" again.
Toy said the agency understood and were very empathetic to its customer's health problems.
"It was clearly explained to him prior to the renovations on the two properties that we would help him move temporarily to another of our properties away from the site due to the level of construction required, after which he could move back into his upgraded home. Mr Cooper declined this offer.
"We did our best to work around that by placing him next door to his existing home in another of our fully refurbished homes. It included regularly keeping in contact and also addressing relevant construction site matters in person. We'll continue to engage with Mr Cooper."
Cooper said with up to 60 new homes being planned for the former supermarket site on the corner of Stewart and King streets, "which isn't going to hurt anyone," he felt the need to have him removed from his home was lessened.
Another concern was a friend who had been living in his garage as a guest for the past two years, because she had nowhere to go after her landlords moved back into her rental home at short notice.
"She's applied for over 80 houses but she can't find anything. What they don't consider is that fact that if I get forced out of my home, into another home she's going to have to go out on the streets. I'm very worried about what's going to happen to her.
"I've got no objection as to the reasoning behind why they want to do this, there's a lot of people out there who are homeless."
He had no problems with the Whakatāne-based Kāinga Ora staff.
"There's two different Kāinga Ora. There's my tenancy manager, who is a wonderful lady. I can't speak highly enough of her. But the people at the top, they have no idea in the world how their decisions reflect on their tenants."
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