A ground-breaking and blessing was held at Whakaruru Cres in Flaxmere on Friday ahead of a range of new homes being built there over the coming year.
Originally Hastings District Council-owned land, Government funding from Crown Infrastructure Partners helped enable Council to install water and roading infrastructure to create the new subdivision.
In 2023, the community and whānau joined Council to celebrate the completion of those groundworks, including a new road, Whakaruru Crescent. The road is named after long-time Flaxmere advocate, Steve Whakaruru, who played a major role in the development of Te Aranga Marae.
Now, houses will now start being built by two organisations with a focus on providing accessible, affordable housing.
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated is developing six sections and will build quality three-bedroom affordable rentals for registered iwi whānau, which will be available to move into by February next year.
Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga (TToH) is developing 13 sections – building a standalone home either for purchase or rent, on each.
Construction of the first six of those homes is scheduled to start this year and be completed by April 2026, followed by the staged delivery of a further seven.
Ngāti Kahungunu chairman, Bayden Barber said it was exciting to be working with Hastings District Council and Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga on this project.
“Quality housing for our people is a key priority for Ngāti Kahungunu as it unlocks other parts of whānau wellbeing such as improved jobs, education and health outcomes. We look forward to further partnerships to help build a better future for Flaxmere and Ngāti Kahungunu,” said Mr Barber.
TToH chief executive, Waylyn Tahuri-Whaipakanga, welcomed the building of new homes.
“These new homes will provide a stepping stone towards home ownership for whānau through the Whare Āhei (affordable rentals) scheme,” he said.
Hastings Mayor, Sandra Hazlehurst said it was fantastic to be realising the aspiration to provide homes in the Whakaruru Cres subdivision.
“This site is one of four Council-owned blocks of land where we have undertaken the groundworks for homes to be developed by our partners.
“Our thanks to Ngāti Kahungunu and Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga for enabling another part of our shared vision to provide more homes for our people in Flaxmere.”
In addition to the initial builds, there are two large sections within Whakaruru Cres that may be used for higher density development that will also be developed by TToH.
These two projects require Resource Consents and the TToH team is working on detailed design ahead of applying for those consents, the Council said.
The timeline for these two projects is approximately three years.
