Construction of Council's six new social housing units in Moore St Ohakune is proceeding well with the project on target for completion in August.
The $2.1m project has been funded through the Government’s COVID19 response infrastructure fund in partnership with Ruapehu District Council.
Mayor Don Cameron said that the construction of the units is making a direct positive contribution to the local economy and once complete will help to address a shortage of social housing in Ohakune.
"The current Labour government has made housing a national priority and Council believes we can play a constructive role in addressing the wide ranging housing issues affecting all sectors of our community," he said.
"Not only do we need more social housing but we also need suitable and affordable housing for single people, key workers, families of all sizes and older people.
In late 2020 Council consulted on and adopted a Five Year Housing Strategy and Plan Action which also involves supporting local iwi Uenuku, Ngati Haua and Ngati Rangi to deliver their own Maori housing initiatives on Maori owned land.
We are aiming for the successful completion of the Moore St project to demonstrate our capacity to deliver even larger housing projects in the future and unlock further investment from government and the private sector toward implementation of our Housing Strategy.”
Mayor Cameron noted that in announcing the Moore St project Housing Minister Hon Dr Megan Woods had said that; ‘The building of these houses provided an opportunity for Ruapehu District Council to use its land holdings to partner with Government to build a more prosperous and resilient district which is a great example of how we can all work together to resolve this housing crisis.'
“As the first concrete implementation of the Housing Strategy and Plan Action we are hopeful that the Moore St development will build on this start and be the catalyst for Council working with Government and others to develop housing at scale in Ruapehu,” he said.
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