"We have land that is build-ready," housing minister says
Cyclone Gabrielle has left a trail of destruction in Hawke’s Bay, but it is still unclear just how many in the region have been made homeless, more than two weeks after the disaster struck.
Nearly 1,000 homes were red- or yellow-stickered in the region, but government figures showed that only 128 households so far had applied to the Temporary Accommodation Service since it started last week.
Housing Minister Megan Woods said the government still hasn’t grasped the size of the job lying ahead because many people were still in immediate clean-up mode, RNZ reported.
“We know at the moment there’s a lot of people that are staying with friends and family, that probably won’t do that for the period of time that it might require for their house to be repaired,” Woods said. “So, what I’m really urging people to do is to come forward, to register with the Temporary Accommodation Service, so we really can start to build that picture for the recovery of what the demand’s going to look like.”
The government, along with councils, iwi, and community groups, were preparing for big numbers. Temporary villages and housing were also being considered to fulfil a permanent purpose once they had finished their stint as a short-term solution.
There was a silver lining, however, in the form of a land in Hawke’s Bay that had been earmarked by the government that was ready to build on. It was meant for a programme aimed at addressing the housing crisis already plaguing the region.
“Not many parts of New Zealand can say, is that actually we have land that is build-ready,” Woods told RNZ. “It’s got the infrastructure in, in some places it’s consented, and it is good to go to get houses on it.”
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