28 Nov 2021

Iwi-led housing project in Napier to be fast-tracked

1:08 pm on 28 November 2021

Environment Minister David Parker is allowing an iwi-led housing development in Napier to fast-track its consent processes.

K3 Kahungunu Property has planned to build more than 600 homes in the city's suburbs, to quash the region's emergency housing crisis.

Napier has the highest social housing waiting list per capita in the country.

Figures released in March showed there were 741 applicants on the city's social housing waitlist and roughly half of the city's motels were full with people in emergency housing,

K3 chief executive Aayden Clarke said fast tracking the process was important.

"We could take our time on this development and stage it out over a long, long period but we're not motivated to do that," he said.

"We've got whānau who are in motels and homeless and in overcrowded houses, so we're going to be putting the pressure on ourselves to try and move this along as quick as we can."

An independent panel, appointed by the fast-track convener Judge Newhook, will have to approve the project first.

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