Information on homelessness and housing in the Western Bay of Plenty just got a whole lot more accessible.

The Kāinga Tupu Taskforce and the SmartGrowth Housing Action Plan Working Group, with the support of Data N Dashboards, have developed a series of online digital dashboards to increase accessibility to data across the housing spectrum. 

The dashboards provide up-to-date information specific to the Western Bay of Plenty sub-region, including, where possible, data for specific suburbs. They support our local information needs on everything housing-related – from homelessness to emergency housing, social housing and supported living, market renting, through to home ownership.

The dashboards were shared for the first time earlier today with people and organisations involved in housing and homelessness. Commissioners Shadrach Rolleston and Bill Wasley, who both spoke at the launch event, are pleased to see the dashboards come to fruition.

“Housing is a topic that affects us all and reports of housing and homelessness in the Western Bay of Plenty can make for sobering reading. Who has homes and who doesn’t, where homes are available and what state they’re in, what rental homes cost and how easy or hard they are to get – these are topics that dominate daily headlines and conversations,” says Shadrach.

“Up until now, this information has been held in multiple places, so gaining a broad picture was difficult. Pulling this information together in one place means we can share the latest available data more easily with providers who need it to help people.”

Commissioner Bill Wasley believes the dashboards will be a huge asset when deciding how to effectively target support. “Decision-makers will be able to use the information to focus on and prioritise the areas that need help the most, as well as help us advocate for our specific needs as a sub-region at a national level.”

The dashboards are available on the Tauranga City Council website.

View the digital dashboards.

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