What are Housing NZ and the government up to in the Taita North suburb of Lower hutt...

 

What are Housing NZ and the Government up to in the Taita North suburb of Lower Hutt? What is really going on in the Pomare community?

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  Evicted Farmers Crescent residents in the Pomare community of Taita North in Lower Hutt...

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  • Housing NZ keeps state homes vacant, why? Good question! 

The Minister of Housing has admitted to ONE News that dozens of state houses are being kept empty in a Lower Hutt neighbourhood because of three gang-related women who will not leave.

Residents of Farmer Crescent say keeping the properties empty is punishing the community and the school and local businesses are feeling the sting.

Minister Phil Heatley said Housing New Zealand has been planning redevelop the neighbourhood, but has put plans on hold due to the women who refuse to obey eviction orders.

"They've (HNZ) never had a problem with cash, they've set aside money for that area and they've had that set aside for some time& it's taken longer because of the constant court challenges against the Crown," Heatley said.

Court battles over the very public eviction have dragged on for more than two years and in the meantime 60 houses stand empty.

The houses the women live in aren't among those marked for immediate redevelopment, but the minister said he doesn't want any new properties vandalised.

Housing New Zealand claims people don't want to live in 16 available units; another three are uninhabitable because of disrepair and another 41 are vacant and awaiting redevelopment.
A spokesperson for the community, 'Fats', told ONE News it's taking its toll on residents.

"The place is a mess, it's starting to look like a shanty town."

Vacant homes are boarded up, the local shops say business is quieter and Pomare Primary has fewer pupils. Principal Chris Worsley says they may have to cut a third of teachers in two years.

"Such a dramatic drop in the roll has been caused primarily by Housing New Zealand and their policy on the rehousing and redevelopment of Farmers Crescent," Worsley said.

Before the eviction battles, Pomare Primary had 171 children enrolled but that number has plummeted to 116 this year, costing the school $75, 000 in funding.

"We need some movement on this as a matter of urgency," said Worsley.

Patched Mongrel Mob member 'Fats' said Pomare is being punished for the lengthy eviction battle.
"They're taking it out on the whole neighbourhood and it's starting to look pathetic."

The Housing Minister said redevelopment is soon to start, with several houses scheduled to be bulldozed.

KR says: But why is there over sixty empty housing units in the general area not connected with those controversial  housing units  of would-be evicted tenants?

The problem is affecting everybody in the area, and Housing NZ and the government are obviously not interested in the families and their children. Are they going to use the controversy in their election campaign? Actually I hope they do, because it will backfire in their faces!

We are now getting close to the final run into the straight for the local body elections...

We are now getting close to the final run into the straight for the local body elections. What are the issues? A load of bunkum really. The real issues are just swept under the carpet and ignored.

What issues are important from my point of view? The illegal usage of "Hutt City" as the name for our city is important in my opinion.

The possibility of amalgamating Lower Huttt and Upper Hutt cities is also important for the future of the Hutt Valley.It should be debated; residents of both cities should be given the opportunity to debate it.

The inane and naive threats by Eastbourne to secede from the city is another.

What are my opinions about candidates? Well history will debate that matter. I believe that Ken Laban is the best candidate for the position of Mayor of Lower Hutt City.

The two incumbent councillors for the Northern Ward, Angus Finlayson and Julie Englebretsen are the undoubted favourites and should be elected again. Angus, in particular, and Julie have worked hard for our area. With no local candidates standing since the 1980's there won't be any emotional reactions. The status quo will remain here!

In other areas the favourites will be expected to succeed. Pretty boring really.

I don't think there has been an election meeting in the Taita district since the 1980's, including parliamentary elections as well.

I have already expressed my opinion about the special treatment metered out for the former boroughs of Petone, Eastbourne and Wainuiomata, at the expense of residents of the original city - elected community boards, and we won't even get council appointed ward committees for at least three years. This is a major issue also swept under the carpet.

How naive are the residents of Eastbourne if they think the Government would allow them to secede from the city. The assets and resources in Eastbourne belong to the City of Lower Hutt. If they don't like it, they can always sell up and ship out!

The issues I have mentioned will be discussed privately and publicly during the next three years, regardless of the outcome of the elections.

If candidates learn the real name of our city - Lower Hutt...

If the one thing candidates learn during the coming council election campaign in Lower Hutt, is the real and legal name of our city, I will be a contented person.

"Lower Hutt" is the legal name as determined by the NZ Geographic Board, and to illegally promote any other name for the city without even an application for a name change, is an offence. Such transgressors could be taken to court if individual Lower Hutt residents or groups objected. They could be fined for each and every illegal promotion, and copies of such in council documents, publications, newspapers etc.

Thousands of copies are made public annually, hundreds of thousands since the name change of the council. The council could be charged and fined in court for every one of them. This could apply to the Mayor, David Ogden, his elected councillors and council officers.

Is there anything more ugly than the new mall in Lower Hutt?

Is there anything more ugly than the new mall in Lower Hutt?

How could the Hutt City Council approve the planning of the buildings?

They all had a golden opportunity to make this mall a beautiful centre of Lower Hutt. It is nothing more than a great ugly concrete ediface. Considering the council we have had for all these years, and also the fact that John Terris was the mayor when plans were made and the building erected, what else could you expect?

There will never be a coordinated plan for the Hutt Valley until Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt cities are amalgamated. There needs to be an overall assessment of the total needs of the Hutt Valley, this can't be done while petty little incompetent politicians hold the reins. They are both a joke! In Lower Hutt there is a pathetic campaign by biased and self-interested people led by groups within the former boroughs of Petone, Eastbourne and Wainuiomata to illegally change the name of Lower Hutt to Hutt City. Upper Hutt doen't appear capable of organising a booze up at a brewery.

We have witnessed the pathetic attempts by those self interested minions within Eastbourne threatening to secede from the City of Lower Hutt. Why? Because the Mayor, David Ogden, and his council wanted to have a uniform method of second tier representation within Lower Hutt. This would have meant the abolition of the three elected community boards, as well as the council appointed ward committes. There would not have been a majority of Lower Hutt residents against this move while council pondered and discussed just what would be the best representation in the future. But no, the over-privileged self interested zealots in the former boroughs, led by the fools in Eastbourne, jumped up and down and threatened secession from the city.

Did the strong minded burghers in the Town Hall take a strong line and well considered leadership against the rebels? No they buckled like the French Army when the Nazis attacked them during the last world war. The upshot of the matter is the status quo will remain in the three boroughs, but the rest of the original city won't even have council appointed ward committees for the next three or more years.

What a bunch of gutless wonders! It is to be hoped that good council candidates stand in behind Ken Laban as the obvious frontrunner for the mayoralty this year.




































Is there anything more ugly than the new mall in Lower Hutt?

How could the Hutt City Council approve the planning of the buildings?

They all had a golden opportunity to make this mall a beautiful centre of Lower Hutt. It is nothing more than a great ugly concrete ediface. Considering the council we have had for all these years, and also the fact that John Terris was the mayor when plans were made and the building erected, what else could you expect?

There will never be a coordinated plan for the Hutt Valley until Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt cities are amalgamated. There needs to be an overall assessment of the total needs of the Hutt Valley, this can't be done while petty little incompetent politicians hold the reins. They are both a joke! In Lower Hutt there is a pathetic campaign by biased and self-interested people led by groups within the former boroughs of Petone, Eastbourne and Wainuiomata to illegally change the name of Lower Hutt to Hutt City. Upper Hutt doen't appear capable of organising a booze up at a brewery.

We have witnessed the pathetic attempts by those self interested minions within Eastbourne threatening to secede from the City of Lower Hutt. Why? Because the Mayor, David Ogden, and his council wanted to have a uniform method of second tier representation within Lower Hutt. This would have meant the abolition of the three elected community boards, as well as the council appointed ward committes. There would not have been a majority of Lower Hutt residents against this move while council pondered and discussed just what would be the best representation in the future. But no, the over-privileged self interested zealots in the former boroughs, led by the fools in Eastbourne, jumped up and down and threatened secession from the city.

Did the strong minded burghers in the Town Hall take a strong line and well considered leadership against the rebels? No they buckled like the French Army when the Nazis attacked them during the last world war. The upshot of the matter is the status quo will remain in the three boroughs, but the rest of the original city won't even have council appointed ward committees for the next three or more years.

What a bunch of gutless wonders! It is to be hoped that good council candidates stand in behind Ken Laban as the obvious frontrunner for the mayoralty this year.




























Is there anything more ugly than the new mall in Lower Hutt?

How could the Hutt City Council approve the planning of the buildings?

They all had a golden opportunity to make this mall a beautiful centre of Lower Hutt. It is nothing more than a great ugly concrete ediface. Considering the council we have had for all these years, and also the fact that John Terris was the mayor when plans were made and the building erected, what else could you expect?

There will never be a coordinated plan for the Hutt Valley until Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt cities are amalgamated. There needs to be an overall assessment of the total needs of the Hutt Valley, this can't be done while petty little incompetent politicians hold the reins. They are both a joke! In Lower Hutt there is a pathetic campaign by biased and self-interested people led by groups within the former boroughs of Petone, Eastbourne and Wainuiomata to illegally change the name of Lower Hutt to Hutt City. Upper Hutt doen't appear capable of organising a booze up at a brewery.

We have witnessed the pathetic attempts by those self interested minions within Eastbourne threatening to secede from the City of Lower Hutt. Why? Because the Mayor, David Ogden, and his council wanted to have a uniform method of second tier representation within Lower Hutt. This would have meant the abolition of the three elected community boards, as well as the council appointed ward committes. There would not have been a majority of Lower Hutt r

Our city is officially and legally named Lower Hutt - not Hutt City.

If there is one thing that has infuriated me for several years now that has been the incorrect and illegal use of Hutt City instead of the correct, official and legal term of Lower Hutt.

I have written in the Hutt News and in emails to the Hutt City Council expressing my opposition and personal objection to such usage. Incredibly I have been supported in my criticism by council employees. But it is still council policy to continue to address the city incorrectly as Hutt City. New traffic signs have been manufactured recently which proclaim the way to Hutt City.

The Hutt City Council continues to describe and promote Lower Hutt as Hutt City. I decided to test my belief by contacting the New Zealand Geographical Board and asked them what the official name was for Lower Hutt. I received an envelope full of information which supported my personal claims that the Hutt City Council is actually wrong, and is in breach of the law. They also supported my own viewpoint that the Hutt City Council had never actually taken any legal steps towards an official name change for Lower Hutt, apart from being in contact with and probably having a meeting with a New Zealand Geographical Board representative. End of story!

The New Zealand Geographical Board has stated that they cannot take a case against the Hutt City Council directly, but any individual or organisation would be able to do so. Such action would be embarrasing for the present administration in a local authority election year. If one eventuates they would have brought it directly on their own heads.