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Keys to 29 newly constructed state homes will be delivered to tenants in Porirua, as part of Kāinga Ora’s Castor Cres development in Cannons Creek.
Representatives of Ngāti Toa Rangatira formally blessed the houses Monday morning, and Mana MP Barbara Edmonds said their construction goes some way to address decades of “sub-buildings” in the city.
KÄ ?? inga Ora / Supplied
The 29 new state homes in the Castor Cres development in Cannons Creek, Porirua, are a mix of sizes ranging from one-bedroom to five-bedroom homes.
The latest additions to the development include 16 one-bedroom, eight two-bedroom, two four-bedroom and three five-bedroom properties, bringing the number of completed Castor Cres homes to 37. The remaining six were slated for completion in February.
Development has been a long time coming. The 1-hectare lot was empty for years, after 27 aging and earthquake-prone units that used to occupy the site were demolished in 2007 and 2008.
KÄ ?? inga Ora / SUPPLIED
Twenty-nine new state housing was unveiled on Monday as part of KÄ ?? s Castor Crescent state housing development. inga Ora in Cannons Creek, Porirua.
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* Timeline slides into $ 1.5 billion Porirua development, but new homes emerge
* Green light for a large state housing development in Porirua’s Cannons Creek
KÄ ?? inga Ora / Supplied
The KÄ ?? public housing development inga Ora at Cannons Creek, Porirua, as shown in July 2020.
Other state houses in nearby Hazard Grove and Esk Place were also sent to the wrecking ball in 2015.
In 2017, around 100 community members spent a night sleeping on the grounds to highlight the area’s need for more public housing.
In November 2018, the government announced that $ 1.5 billion would be invested in revitalizing Porirua, with projections suggesting that the city could grow by 29,000 people over the next 30 years.
The Porirua development aimed to replace around 2,000 state homes with around 4,000 new homes, with infrastructure improvements and improving local parks and streets among the key focuses.
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About 100 church and community members gathered at the corner of Ixion Lane and Castor Crescent, Cannons Creek to protest the lack of state housing there in 2017 (File photo).
Kāinga Ora Eastern Porirua Regeneration Project Director Will Pennington said Monday’s milestone was “really significant” as it enabled the organization to “re-house people from their existing homes and stay in their community while modernizing. existing homes “.
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Children draw pictures on the pavement as part of a state protest for housing in Porirua in 2017.
“It is very important in the sense that we are illustrating what the future of Eastern Porirua can look like in terms of development and high quality, medium density housing, which I think these Castor Cres houses do really well.
MONIQUE FORD / THINGS
Barbara Edmonds, a mother of eight and a tax attorney, won the Mana electorate in the 2020 general election.
“What’s really exciting about the development at the scale you see here at Castor Cres is that we had the opportunity to plan and design very high quality urban design results, so all the units have received a really high level of attention. . privacy and good sun, passive solar gains and very high quality amenity spaces in common areas.
“It really reflects a new and much more considerate way of life for people in this kind of environment,” Pennington said.
Edmonds, a longtime Porirua resident, recognized the need for a mix of pubs of different sizes, ranging from “single people to large families.” It comes when Porirua was recently named the most expensive district to rent in the country.
Edmonds is pleased to learn that much of the construction work has been done by local contractors, a decision that is in line with government contracting standards.
“For me, it’s really encouraging to have our local carpet layers, our local spirits, our local builders, because it just helps with all that local employment … so there are some really nice connections there with the local economy and our local businesses.” Edmonds said.
