Regional Housing Action Plan (RHAP) – including the whole population

_{To Hon. Tracey Martin, Chair Wellington Regional Leadership Committee}

Thanks very much for the RHAP. As you know, UCAN has been actively concerned for over a decade by the fragmented and partial responses to this issue. We are very relieved to see that your Committee will form a clear and transparent governance structure to implement the Plan

I wonder if we can have a conversation about the regional partnerships that are envisaged to advance the inclusive objectives of the Plan. We are particularly interested in the way specific populations will be defined in the next regional Housing and Business Capacity Assessment (HBA) (NPS-UD 3.23(2)). To this point specific, potentially vulnerable, groups have been excluded from those Assessments. I think that process relates to the RHAP Key Moves C5, C6 and D1.

We noted that when the Plan was adopted by the WRLC committee members began to specify populations of concern, namely people with enduring mental illness, tangata whaikaha and superannuitants who are renters. We saw that as a

We noted that when the Plan was adopted by the WRLC committee members began to specify populations of concern, namely people with enduring mental illness, tangata whaikaha and superannuitants who are renters. We saw that as a constructive next step but as far as we can see
those references were not carried forward into the record of the meeting.

There has been a lot of discussion over the years that can be used to begin to frame and estimate
need. We attach particular importance to the report by Coroner Robb because we were
personally involved in the tragic events and inquest related to one of those cases – an innocent
victim living in the terms of a Community Treatment Order who believed he had been provided
with secure housing. Consequently we feel a duty to support the Coroner’s findings related to the
system wide inadequacies that he identified, including the reluctance of the regional MHAIDS to
define the extent of the shortfall in housing and accommodation.

We are, of course, well aware that there are other groups such as ours with their own specific
commitments. For example the Howard League has made considered submissions on the draft
Wellington City District Plan that are similar to our own although they go further in beginning to
address the complexities of managing zones of intensification and inclusion.
As you would expect, we are very hopeful that the WRLC will draw on an integrated account of
what the health sector is referring to as ‘lived experience’ to inform the frameworks, statistics
and models that are envisaged in the Plan.

RESPONSE

Dear Debbie
Thank you for your recent letter regarding the WRLC Regional Housing Action Plan. As you
have indicated the work programme of the WRLC includes both undertaking an updated
Housing and Business Capacity Assessment (HBA) and implementing our recently approved
Regional Housing Action Plan (RHAP).
We have recently commenced work on our HBA and will be undertaking this at a totally
regional level for the first time i.e. including all the councils in the region, not just those required
to undertake an HBA. As you have noted one of the things, we need to consider in this
assessment is identifying the needs of a range of groups. This is a key action for us, and we
will take your comments into account when undertaking this work, noting that available data
for some groups, particularly at a regional level, is often hard to find or is limited.
We have a range of entities and interests involved in the implementation of our RHAP and
those people represent housing across the housing spectrum.
The WRLC has been, and will continue to, draw on a wide range of data sources and
qualitative information both in implementing the RHAP and developing the HBA.
To ensure you keep yourself and your network up to date with our work, you may want to
subscribe to our monthly newsletter at Wellington Regional Leadership Committee (wrlc.org.nz).

Yours Sincerely
Hon. Tracey Martin, Chair Wellington Regional Leadership Committee

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