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Lauri Shore enjoys relaxing in her backyard in the evenings, but she fears that a “secret” social housing remodel on her back fence will destroy privacy, cut off the sunlight and become her “worst nightmare.”
The Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (ŌCHT) has submitted a resource consent to rebuild 31 social housing units in Gowerton Place, Richmond. The new development would have 37 units.
The trust said the remodel was “more of the same” and qualified for non-notified consent.
But residents are concerned about the location of the new units closer to their fences, how they are planned to be two-story rather than the current single story, and their orientation.
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Some neighbors only found out about the remodel through a chance encounter.
One, Susan Arrow, learned that the plans had been presented to the board by a trust manager she came across while on her way to a supermarket.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
Lauri Shore says the proposed remodel will affect your privacy, sunlight and security.
Arrow and his partner Dave Isdale live near the social housing site and called the council to get a copy of the consent.
Isdale said he was “angry and upset” when he saw what was planned, as he did not expect trust to be built so close to his fence.
He wanted the trust to find a better way to consult with the community, saying that now he was feeling smart.
As of June this year, there were about 18,500 people waiting for social housing nationwide, about 1,200 of them in Christchurch.
Between April and June, the Ministry of Social Development paid $ 3.5 million in emergency housing grants for temporary accommodation, usually a motel, in Canterbury, $ 79 million nationwide.
Lauri Shore, whose property is also post-Richmond development, said the trust had been “reserved.” Arrow and Isdale alerted her to the plans.
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON / Stuff
Currently, the social housing on the site has only one-story buildings.
Shore’s mother had emailed and called the trust earlier in the year and was told the plans were not finalized and the community would be contacted later.
“It’s like you reveal your plan without enough time for someone to respond appropriately and do something about it if they object,” Shore said.
He stressed that he was not against social housing, but felt the current proposal cut off his privacy and sunlight.
Shore said having the new buildings parallel to its rear fence would create an alley that would make it easier for people to jump the fences in a robbery, and that robberies were common in the area.
SUPPLIED / Christchurch City Council
The new buildings on the site will be two-story, according to a resource consent submitted by the Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust.
Shore said he enjoys the privacy of his backyard, but felt it would be lost if a second story was added near the fence, and said people could look inside his home.
This proposal makes you feel like your backyard is “no longer a safe place” and would block sunlight.
“It seems like they are building something that doesn’t promote good neighborliness,” Shore said.
Since then, a meeting has been held between the neighbors and the trust.
The trust’s business and development manager, Ed Leeson, said in a statement that he heard “a combination of support and some concerns.”
He said the remodel was planned to be lower than the maximum height allowed in the district plan and was a permitted activity.
Leeson said the new design qualified to be unreported consent, but the decision of whether would be up to the council.
He said the trust planned to demolish the existing units completed early in the new year, when construction on the remodel should also begin.
