Deadlines set for end of emergency contracts for seven Rotorua motels

An application to extend emergency housing contracts at seven motels in Rotorua has been approved - with conditions requiring a definite end to the homeless accommodation.

Residents opposed the applications for resource consent to extend the contracts for another year, at a hearing in November, saying they were fed up with the consequences of being the only city in New Zealand with contracted emergency housing (CEH).

However, independent commissioner David Hill has approved the extensions with conditions, which include that only three of the seven will continue as emergency housing until December.

In his decision, Hill said consent would expire on one motel as soon as the end of March, while the other three must return to their normal function in June or July.

At last year's hearing a resident told Hill they had been threatened, verbally abused and had witnessed child abuse at the motels - the last of a group in Rotorua contracted by the government for emergency housing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Business owners said the anti-social behaviour of the motels' occupants was driving away tourism, while one resident told RNZ she couldn't sell her home because of the resource consent applications.

Residents said they had been subjected to burglary, arson, intimidation by gangs, drug dealing, damage to cars, a stabbing, domestic disturbances and littering linked to the motels.

In 2022, Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) successfully applied for resource consent at 13 motels in the city.

The government announced in June last year it would not seek renewal of six of those consents and the remaining seven were due to return to visitor accommodation at the end of last year.

They are the Alpin, Apollo, Ascot on Fenton, Geneva Motor Lodge, Lake Rotorua Hotel, Pohutu Lodge and RotoVegas motels which can accommodate 529 people across 186 units.

The ministry wanted a staggered withdrawal with flexibility of up to six months for preparing the exit but in his decision Hill said submitters argued they wanted a firm end to the housing, which he granted.

Hill said the submitters detailed five years of negative experience due to the emergency housing.

"They say that the community has suffered continuous harm; that harm continues; the experiment has failed the community; and it is time for it to stop.

"Submitters were consistent in their belief that the only reason the number of submitters to these applications was significantly fewer than previously is that the community is tired of fighting and expressed that in general terms of bad faith by MHUD and the government."

A hearing in October 2022 attracted more than 3500 submissions against continuing the motels, but this time 176 submissions were received by Rotorua Lakes Council. Only one was in support.

"Whether the harm alleged is actual (as in the case of Mr Trevor Newbrook's property being burgled then destroyed by arson) or, more intangibly, psychological (fuelled by anxiety and the mere knowledge of the existence of proximate CEH), or cultural (as described by Dr Tanya Robinson with regard to the mauri and tikanga of Whakarewarewa), the effect on individuals and whānau is nonetheless real.

"Others recounted stories of avoidance behaviour leading them or their close relations to move home to other parts of Rotorua or out of the district altogether directly affecting family/whānau dynamics."

Substantial management improvements noted

But Hill accepted that since December 2022 there had been substantial improvements in the management of emergency housing including a reduction in numbers, an upturn in tourism and an improvement in the city's reputation which was "more of a substantial concern in 2022".

He said incident data was "very soft" and it was up to the ministry as the applicant to address the community's concerns.

The ministry agreed to the consent for the Apollo Hotel expiring on 31 March as long as the other six motels could continue until December but Hill disagreed.

He noted the number of people leaving emergency housing mirrored or exceeded entry and said logically the number would decline further as capacity reduced.

"In the end I find that the term sought for all seven motels is not justified. The exit strategy, in-as-much as now there is one, rests on assumptions regarding new builds and affordable rentals.

"Missing from this discussion (and the hearing), of course, is any material indication from Kāinga Ora as to how advanced its construction programme is, whether the units that might be available to CEH are on-track for completion and occupation, by when, and how the units will be allocated to those currently eligible in CEH."

As part of the conditions for consent, Hill imposed a requirement to cease accepting new referrals six months prior to expiry so that demand did not overwhelm expected supply.

The 2025 consent expiration dates are:

• 31 March: Apollo Hotel
• 30 June: Alpin Motel and Pohutu Lodge Motel (referrals to cease now)
• 31 July: Geneva Motor Lodge (referrals to cease on 31 January)
• 15 December: Ascot on Fenton Motel, Lake Rotorua Hotel, RotoVegas Motel (referrals to cease on 15 June).

On 20 December Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka announced the Apollo Hotel would cease as a contracted emergency housing motel in late January, while another yet-to-be named motel would end its homeless accommodation in March.

'Let's just close these places down' - motels opponent

Restore Rotorua deputy chairperson Carolyne Hall said she was pleased contracts at four motels would end before the 12-month term sought by the ministry.

Hall said there had been concerning anti-social behaviour at those motels in particular, which were close to prominent tourist attractions.

"We do not want this for our town anymore. We've done everything we can for those that required the service but we're done now.

"We want our tourism industry back up and running. I mean it won't happen if we continue to do what we're doing with these motels."

She said a staggered exit was expected and acceptable and that it was through the tenacity of the community holding authorities to account that contracted emergency housing would finally end.

"What we don't want to see is people going back on their word now. Let's just close these places down. Get people into houses and homes and get back to the city that we used to be."