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!

Save our Pohutakawa tree - a Taita icon in danger of destruction by the chainsaws of the Hosanna Church

Image via Wikipedia

Save out Pohutakawa tree -  a Taita icon in danger of destruction by the chainsaws of the Hosanna Church...

Last weekend a group of current and former Taita residents and identities met in High Street, Taita, to discuss and protest at the proposed destruction of the 150 year old iconic Pohutakawa tree which was planted long before there was a suburb called Taita; long before the old Taita Hotel itself was constructed in 1890. There was only farmland and later market gardens in this district. High Street, one of the main arterial routes through the City of Lower Hutt for many decades was just a horse track through which the stage coach from Wellington passed through on its way to the Wairarapa. They changed horses just up the road from the site of the former Taita Hotel, now the Hosanna Church, at the original Taita hotel which later burned down.

The new owners of the Taita hotel site, purchased some years ago by the very last of the hoteliers, Ricky Briant and Huia Gordon, are in the process of redevelopment work on the site. The new owners have in the words of some Taita residents, arrogantly and ignorantly disregarded the feelings, sentiments and sense of history of the area and residents. Taita is the original name for the area which includes Taita North ( including the community of Pomare and the industrial area of Wingate)  Taita South, Avalon and Naenae. This explains why the cemetery in Naenae is called the Taita Cemetery. Avalon Park is the site of the old Taita speedway. But once the Avalon area was subdivided the owners of the new houses there did not want to be associated with those state house tenants in the north. They were described in the Hutt News a few years ago by one well known Taita identity, as a "bunch of snobs".  Words  he still sticks to!

Technically under New Zealand law, the Hosanna Church owns the Pohutakawa tree because it is on the site; but morally nobody owns such an iconic tree that precedes the Taita borough and suburb of Lower Hutt City. This tree was played on by children waiting for their parents, and used in a variety of ways over  the years. The tree has also been hacked around and defaced by contractors in recent years. A story in the Taita Times mentioned how the tree was used as an early post office - people used to leave and collect letters in a box nailed to the tree. No stamp being necessary those days.

We were told at Sunday's meeting that there had been no support from the Hutt City Council or interest from the media. I hope this addresses that problem. The local Labour MP has allegedly only taken interest in the tree protest when he found out that a National candidate had pledged support. We hope there will be some real cross-party support from our politicians and potential candidates at this year's local body elections. Come on over for a talk Mayor David Ogden.

This tree has mana, and  is a symbol of generations past. While the busy working class suburb has fallen on hard economic times since the unfortunate 1980/90's, many people remember that in the early days of the suburb it housed returned servicemen and their families. While it has changed over the years and now houses the economically disadvantaged as well as the working class, the spirit of Taita still burns brightly in the hearts of those who have, and still call Taita home. I'm mainland born from Christchurch and Canterbury, but Taita has been my home and suburb since 1972.

Imagine if you can, the late Sir Walter Nash, former prime minister of New Zealand, stopping under the shade of what was then a much larger and widespread Pohutakawa tree during his campaigning in Lower Hutt. The old gentleman would turn in his grave if he found out the Taita tree was under attack from Christians armed with chainsaws. Sir Walter was a devout church going Christian from the old school; those from the Hosanna church would undoubtably learn much from him, regarding Christian charity and regard for the feelings of their neighbours. They could simply read their bible and find an appropriate story there. The future is in their hands. I sincerely hope that they will initiate some dialogue with those who want the tree saved.

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Farmers Crescent is in the suburb of Taita North, not Pomare...

Farmers Crescent where there was some media reported gang activities in the last couple of weeks, is actually in the suburb of Taita North, not the suburb of Pomare which doesn't exist.

Pomare is actually a community that grew around the Pomare railway station and the local primary school a few decades ago. The original Taita North school was renamed Pomare to give the local inhabitants some community identity. It still applies to that original area, not the whole of Taita North that many residents, and the media believe.

Why the Hutt City Council split the old Taita suburb into two is beyond me. Taita actually includes that industrial area around the Eastern Hutt Road, erroneously called Wingate as well. "Taita" is actually the original and historic name for most of the Taita, Naenae and northern Avalon areas. The old speedway track, for instance, was at what is now called Avalon Park.

There should be only one suburb called "Taita Districts" to avoid confusion by locals and others as well. Some people in Foster and McDonald Streets have attempted to have those streets included into Avalon North as well; but this is just petty snobbery which I wrote about here, some years ago. Reminds me of those confused people who call Lower Hutt as that non-existent entity Hutt City!