Fenton Street in Rotorua is the location of many emergency housing motels which are now being closed. Photo: Andrew Warner
The government's decision to cut the number of emergency housing motels in Rotorua is "the first step" in taking the area back, a National MP says.
On Saturday, the government announced it would not renew consents for six of the 13 remaining emergency housing motels, which are clustered around Fenton Street.
Resource consents for the other seven would lapse in December 2025, as part of the plan to stop using emergency housing by the end of next year.
Homes would be found for those in emergency housing, Rotorua MP Todd McClay said, and people did not need to be "dumped" in motels.
"Ultimately, a motel is not a place for mum to raise her kids."
It was time to take Fenton Street back, he said.
Rotorua MP Todd McClay. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
"It's time for us to restore Rotorua's reputation as a holiday spot."
A pipeline of social houses was scheduled to be completed in Rotorua, associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said, and the ministry would work with the local community and council to make them aware of the progress.
"This will provide certainty for families needing housing, until they can move into a long-term home, while reassuring the people of Rotorua that the use of these motels in the city is winding down quickly.
"We are determined to get whānau out of these motels, and into stable housing."
Restore Rotorua, a lobby group of locals, said it had been working hard for three years to see this happen.
Trevor Newbrook of Restore Rotorua. Photo: Rotorua Daily Post / Andrew Warner via LDR
"We didn't make any progress with the last government - disappointed it wasn't dealt with earlier," the group's chairperson Trevor Newbrook said.
The group had been concerned by the large number of people being sent to Rotorua from across the country to live in the motels, Newbrook said, and he noted many had serious mental health issues or drug addictions.
"It caused a lot of concern for the locals, people don't feel safe living here. It was an experiment by the previous government and the new government have acknowledged the issues and that it didn't work."
Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
'Where are these people going to go?'
Labour's housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty has questioned the announcement, which he said had "caught him by surprise" given recent housing budget cuts.
"The government has cut $435 million from the Kāinga Ora house build programme and over $1 billion from the maintenance fund," McAnulty said.
"Where are these people going to go? More social housing needs to be built."
The emergency housing situation arose as there was a need for it, McAnulty said, and he believed the need for it was only set to increase.
"Nobody wants to be in emergency housing and if the government is going to do this then they need to invest more into social housing."