Group to combat poor housing

‘‘When you’ve never had to live in a car or sleep in someone’s garage you don’t understand.’’ Robin Winter from Project Tararua

‘‘Horrendous’’ rental accommodation in Tararua has prompted the community to take matters into their own hands.

A working group has been formed to look at the quality of community housing, social housing and pensioner housing in the district.

The group was formed at a housing hui on Monday, organised by Robin Winter from Project Tararua.

About 18 people from local social and housing groups attended the meeting to share their concerns and ideas on housing.

Winter said she had looked at some of the dwellings in the area and considered some of them to be of ‘‘low quality’’.

Ben Harrowfield, the pastor for Dannevirke’s Christian Fellowship, was among those who attended the meeting.

When Harrowfield and his wife moved to Dannevirke about 15 months ago, looked online for rental accommodation.

‘‘What we saw was horrendous and to be honest, it wasn’t a wonderful ‘welcome to Dannevirke, this is what we have on offer for you’.

‘‘We did find a good rental to move into, we were very fortunate in that, but what we were first presented with wasn’t wonderful.’’

He said if landlords took more responsibility in upgrading their homes, it would benefit tenants and make the town more attractive.

The purpose of the meeting was to bring together people who had the ability to do something to improve the quality and quantity of housing in the Tararua District, Winter said.

The working group would aim to provide advocacy on housing issues for tenants in the area.

It would also promote education around safe and warm housing, develop networks with social and health workers and have the potential to form a trust in the future.

Winter told the Standard some people simply struggled to keep their homes warm, dry and safe.

‘‘Housing is an important issue. It’s a lot more important than people think.

‘‘When you’ve never had to live in a car or sleep in someone’s garage you don’t understand.

‘‘Often those people who are in that position don’t have much of a voice.’’

While not all housing in the area was considered ‘‘poor quality’’, Winter estimated about 20 per cent of the population struggled to keep a warm and healthy home.

Tararua District councillor Tracey Collis told the Standard she thought the Tararua District Council would be ‘‘thrilled’’ to have people in the community who were interested in the issue.

But, Collis said at this stage she was not sure what role the council would play.

Tararua District Council community assets and property manager Colin Veale said he was unable to comment on whether or not the council would support the advocacy group without first understanding its terms of reference.