Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Community to occupy Pomare to protest housing demolition

18 November 2011

Community to occupy Pomare to protest housing demolition

Members of the Pomare community will move to occupy the site of their demolished homes as a further protest at Housing New Zealand’s failure to act on their housing concerns.

Last week hundreds of residents and supporters attended a community rally to highlight the loss of their community and the community’s need for state housing.

From Saturday morning community members will move into tents erected on the demolition site surrounded by headstones and crosses representing the lost houses. Each headstone or cross shows the time the house had been lived in by local families, with some families being moved from houses they have lived in for over 40 years.

Korina Haua, Tolly Jackson and Yvonne Kapua lived next door to each other in Pomare for more than 30 years before being moved by Housing NZ. The three women are missing the support of their long term neighbours “We all looked after each other. I feel like I’ve moved from a community to a street where I don’t know anyone. We just want to be allowed to come back to Pomare when the redevelopment is done” said Ms Haua.

“This is not just about Pomare,” said community spokesperson Dina Awarau. “The same thing is happening in Glen Innes and it will be other communities next. Many low income families are already struggling to get affordable housing and Housing NZ selling land to private developers is only going to make that worse”.

Housing NZ called for tenders this week for developers to deliver a mix of private housing, social housing and corporation housing in Pomare with a maximum of 12 of the 72 proposed new homes to be owned by Housing NZ.

“This is asset sales by another name” said Ms Awarau. “If the National government get voted back in, low income families will end up living under the bridge”.

Who? Pomare Community Voice
What? Occupy Pomare
Where? Farmer Crescent, adjacent to Taita Drive intersection.
When? From 9am Saturday, 19 November 2011

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.