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Posts Tagged ‘phil heatley’

It’s not a problem, it’s a crisis

Posted by Annette King on February 22nd, 2012

Yesterday Phil Twyford and I spent the day meeting with key people involved in housing and urban development in Auckland. I recommend Phil Heatley the Minister of ‘no Housing ‘ does the same. He might learn something.

Auckland needs to house another million people over the next 30 years requiring an extra 400,000 dwellings.  That is an impossible task without a long term strategy and total commitment from government, local government and both the private and community sectors. 

The Auckland Council has drawn up a draft Auckland Plan looking forward 30 years. It emphasises a commitment to a quality compact Auckland region. Feedback from Aucklanders has made it clear they want a bold visionary strategy.  They also want the impact of development on the heritage and character of the region to be considered.  And they want the ‘housing crisis’ addressed!

Auckland Council with all the good will in the world won’t achieve their plan on their own.  Around 13,000 new houses a year need to be built every year for the next 30 years.  That is a quantum leap from where we are now.  In 1992 around 4,800 houses were being built a year. The number peaked at 12,000 between 2001 and 2005.  In the latest figures the number has plunged to just over 2,000. (more…)

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Filed under: Auckland, Uncategorized, housing
14 Comments

National’s perverted idea of urban renewal

Posted by Phil Twyford on February 14th, 2012

We need good urban development in Auckland.  The city is crying out for urban renewal, more affordable healthy homes, public transport, you name it.

But in Glen Innes where Housing NZ is redeveloping 156 of their properties the Government is breaking every rule in the book, and giving urban renewal a bad name.

At a lively public meeting in GI last night, three hapless National backbenchers (the new member for Tamaki Simon O’Connor, list member Alfred Ngaro who was a community worker in the area, and neighbouring MP Sam Lotu-Iiga) got an old fashioned bollocking from a crowd of around 300 including many Housing NZ tenants facing eviction.

At least they turned up, which is more than can be said for Housing Minister Phil Heatley.

Under his watch, National has reneged on commitments made by the Labour Government when it started the project.  They have walked away from the pledge that residents would have the right to move back into the community after the redevelopment. They have broken the promise the number of Housing NZ properties would be increased. And they dropped the community development process that was part of the original design.

Housing NZ reports the current 156 properties will be redeveloped to generate 260 new properties. Only 78 will be owned by Housing NZ. Another 39 “affordable” properties will possibly be managed by community agencies although I understand all expressions of interest were recently rejected and it is uncertain what will happen to them now. The remainder will all be sold to the highest bidders.

No wonder the dozens of GI residents who have received eviction notices were enraged at last night’s meeting and howled down O’Connor, Ngaro and Lotu-Iiga down as sell outs.

It is a disgrace what is happening in GI. National’s perverted version of urban renewal is moving poor people out, and shipping the rich in, as if low income Kiwis should not be allowed a sea view. Just as John Key stripped the state housing out of the new development in Hobsonville in his electorate.

The people of Glen Innes deserve our support.

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Filed under: housing
23 Comments

The born-to-rule brigade

Posted by Chris Hipkins on November 17th, 2010

The Pansy Wong saga has highlighted an on-going trend in the way this National government operates. They certainly do practice what they preach in terms of “self-help/help yourself”. It seems they’re out to get everything they can off the taxpayer until they get caught.

Bill English tried to pretend that he lived in Dipton so that he could claim a housing allowance, even though his wife and kids all lived in Wellington. He even went so far as to ask for more money to have his house cleaned.

John Key decided the best way to deal with the housing allowance scandal was to put in place a new, more generous system for them to rort, with a lot less transparency. Many of them effectively got a big fat pay rise as a result.

Phil Heatley thought it was OK to charge up drinks at the National Party conference to his ministerial credit card. He then took his family on holiday to the South Island and thought it was OK to ask the taxpayer to stump up for the bill for that too.

Richard Worth thought it was acceptable to mix his ministerial and private business interests, travelling to India and using his ministerial title to promote private interests. He was up to some other stuff too, but goodness knows what (it was enough for John Key to lose confidence in him, but he never did say why…)

Anne Tolley decided to take a literal interpretation of the term ‘helicopter view’ and took a taxpayer funded helicopter sight-seeing trip over Auckland.

Pansy Wong thought it was alright for her husband’s business interests to be subsidised by the taxpayer, through abuse of her international travel privileges and also possibly by using her taxpayer funded office as the premises for private business interests.

After nine years in opposition, the National Party seem to be making up for lost time. They’re out for everything they can get. What appals me is that John Key seems to think it’s OK to pass the buck and try to help them cover things up. Classic case of do as I say, but not as I do.

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Filed under: democracy, parliament, perks
20 Comments

Goodbye shared equity scheme

Posted by Moana Mackey on June 30th, 2010

As of tomorrow Labour’s Shared Equity pilot will end and the Government has made it clear they will not be providing any funding for it to continue.  This is despite Phil Heatley promising before the election that they would keep it at least until their Gateway scheme becomes available. The Gateway scheme has been missing in action since the election (and received no funding in the Budget) although we’re promised that some sections will be made available “soon”.

There is no doubt that the uptake of shared equity during the pilot was low. I’m not questioning that at all. But when Housing New Zealand was asked why this was, Senior Communications Adviser Michelle Williams revealed that Housing New Zealand was told to stop promoting the scheme after the 2008 election. Heatley confirmed this in the House today saying he didnt want to waste money on “advertising”.

The shared equity pilot started in July 2008. This means for twenty of the twenty-four months that the pilot was operating it wasn’t being promoted. Heatley says he just wanted to save money, but why waste money carrying out a pilot, at the end of which you have no idea whether the low uptake is due to it not working, the recession, or simply the fact that no one knows it exists.

Housing New Zealand are quite clear on why the uptake was so low saying that “Initial forecasting for this product suggested funding would be required for approximately 700 loans over the two-year pilot phase.  This has not been the case due to a change of government and subsequently change in focus. Coupled with no promotion and low awareness of product, demand has been very low.”

So not because it doesn’t work. Not because it has no potential in the future. Because people don’t know it exists. What a waste of time and money.

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Filed under: housing
22 Comments

Why don’t Nats want question time ?

Posted by Trevor Mallard on February 24th, 2010

It is not good form to go into details of discussions that happen “behind the speakers chair” between leaders of the house and their shadow or between whips.

But what is very obvious is that the Nats are very very scared of having a question time today. We are under urgency debating ACC legislation. We know that in the end we will lose and all we can do in debate and delay.  But that has its limits and what normally happens is that a deal is done – questions in and a limit to the length of the debate.

There was a fair deal on the table for the Nats but they have run away from it.

So what are they scared of.  Key or English on the differing views on GST. The housing question to credit card Heatley which goes to his priorities for government expenditure. Or Anne Tolley showing her ignorance of her own standards policy again.

But whatever it is they make chickens look courageous.

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Filed under: ACC, economy, education, housing, parliament, politics
16 Comments