An accommodation stoush in one of New Zealand's top tourism cities is now starting to get ugly.
Photo: 123rf
Rotorua Lakes Council has gone to the Environment Court seeking enforcement orders against nine emergency accommodation providers.
A council spokeswoman says the move follows attempts to engage with operators to make sure they are compliant if they want to continue offering emergency housing.
Mayor Steve Chadwick says council has an obligation to make sure people have accommodation that is safe and fit-for-purpose.
Councillor Tania Tapsell, who chairs the operations and monitoring committee, told Checkpoint it was a last ditch move.
"Staff have effectively come to us and said 'this is the issue, these are the discussions we've tried to have, it's not working," she said. "I mean we really don't take anyone to court without trying all the other options first, because bear in mind this unfortunately this still does have a cost to the ratepayers."
The legal move will be at a cost to ratepayers, but it will be for the good of the tourism hotspot's reputation, some in the region say.
A spokeswoman said the court action followed requests operators talk to the council make sure they were sticking to rules and regulations if they wanted to continue providing emergency housing.
Tapsell said the move had sufficient backing from colleagues.
"One of the tools we do have is making sure people are complying and that their operations are fit for purpose for the use that they are in," she said.
"So, when you have motels that were previously for short-term stay, one or two nights, that's very different to what it's now being used as, for emergency housing, where people are effectively living in these hotel rooms."
It followed a fairly ugly chapter for the tourist town. Last month, Checkpoint travelled to Rotorua, where it was told of fears tourists would be put off visiting.
It was claimed the town's motels were seen as an investment class, the situation described as "domestic poverty tourism".
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Tapsell said some motels were behind "significant social issues", adding it was not just the town's reputation at stake.
"We do know that were are known gang members who have been residing in these hotels," she said.
"There's been drugs and violence come from it unfortunately. To put that into perspective - one third of all family harm violence caused in one week in one week in Rotorua are going to emergency housing motels. So it's been a significant drain, not only on taxpayers' money - this is costing between $20 and $30 million a year in Rotorua alone - but also on police resources and social services resources."
Rotorua Economic Development chief executive Andrew Wilson has been a harsh critic of emergency housing arrangements in Rotorua.
"We've got 13 properties that have been contracted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban development, which have got wraparound services and management in how those facilities operate," he said.
"Then we've got a larger number of motels funded by the emergency housing grants that the Ministry of Social Development provide and there's a real lack of management around those facilities and the flow-on impacts are certainly felt by the surrounding community."
It was not clear how many families and individuals were staying at the nine hotels subject to the court action. Wilson said the situation reflected wider social and political problems facing the country.
"It's seems only right that we're making sure properties that have been used for emergency housing are also fit for purpose," he said.
"We'd dearly love to see more houses being built. Unfortunately the amount of effort that seems to be going in the wrong end of the housing continuum, it's one of those things that's extremely frustrating."
Accommodation owner and head of the Rotorua Association of Motels, Nick Fitzgerald, said the move would hopefully produce good outcomes.
"For the wider community there'll be less disruption. There'll be less reputational damage and also the community within those emergency housing motels, in fact, there's going to be better services and I guess greater accountability within them," he said.
In a statement, Chadwick told Checkpoint end-to-end support was in place for those needing emergency accommodation, but the council had an obligation to make sure people had housing that was safe and fit-for-purpose.
The council said over the next two weeks other operators would be invited to engage with council to make sure they were compliant if they wanted to continue providing a roof for those in need.
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) said the action was part of a compliance process to ensure the safety and appropriateness of any facilities providing emergency accommodation.
Bay of Plenty Regional Commissioner Mike Bryant said MSD has a good relationship with Rotorua Lakes Council and was happy to work through issues as required.
He acknowledged the council's role overseeing the Resource Management and Building Act, and that enforcement action may affect suppliers and MSD clients.
Bryant said steps to comply with council regulations were for the motels to take, given they were private businesses.
However, MSD has encouraged them to engage with Rotorua Lakes Council.