Marlowe Mews in Blockhouse Bay, the centre of the land dispute. Photo: Supplied / Benji Nathan
Kāinga Ora has spent more than $3 million on the planning stages of a social housing development in the Auckland suburb of Blockhouse Bay.
The state landlord retracted its resource consent application last year but has since reapplied for it, despite significant community backlash and legal action.
Residents said the new proposed plan had minimal changes and did not justify the money spent on consultancy.
Data released through the Official Information Act showed $3.08m had been spent in the complex up to 19 February, with $1.76m used on consultancy for resource consent and building design.
Community leader Benji Nathan said the expenditure did not reflect the changes made to the original development plan.
"The expenditure to date is astonishing. Over three million dollars with more than half of that on consultancy is absurd.
"Especially given that [Kainga Ora] resubmitted consent is almost a copy and paste of the original [resource consent application] that KO withdrew out of fear that it would go to public notification."
The new resource application had little to no difference from the first ones, he said.
"The new application still proposes 68 homes, roading through Marlowe on to Bolton and no specific pensioner housing.
"Why would you spend that amount of money on consultancy and re-apply for resource consent if you kind of know it will have the same outcome as the previous one? It's wasteful spending."
An additional $7805 was allocated for community engagement, including security costs for community meetings.
"I wonder what characterizes engagement, because there has been next to none," Nathan said.
Other costs to the development included $1.01m on house demolition and relocation, $122,992 in Auckland Council consent fees, $484 on legal fees, and $179,863 under "other".
Pensioner Housing
The community also wanted the state landlord to honour the piece of the land donated to pensioners.
Blockhouse Bay residents were pursuing legal action against Auckland Council to make sure the donation was considered in the Kainga Ora development plans.
In February, Auckland Council said it was actively considering the legal position.
Through a statement sent to RNZ today, a council spokesperson said its legal team was still assessing the situation involving the donated land.
"Due to the historic nature of this sale, there are some details which are taking longer than expected to confirm.
"But we look forward to providing a robust response to the community once the assessment is complete and the council's decision has been finalised."
Kainga Ora response
Regional director Auckland North and West Taina Jones said the development was a large project.
"The expenditure on specialist technical advice is consistent with other urban development projects of this size and is budgeted for.
"We have engaged various professionals, such as architects and engineers, to help with the planning, design and consenting stage of the project to ensure we are meeting local regulatory requirements and delivering a high-quality development that will fit well in this neighbourhood."
Jones said the revised development plan for the site met the requirements of the Auckland Unitary Plan.
"We have already made some design changes to reflect the community's feedback and the comments made by Auckland Council's Duty Commissioner in response to our original resource consent application.
"It will now be up to the Council to make a decision on our revised consent application."
