'Blurred lines” in relation to consents encouraged by the Government created feisty debate at the Rotorua Lakes Council's final meeting of the current term.

The term has been interpreted as not to let 'petty politics” intrude on local housing decisions.

A special housing area at Ngongotaha set aside for the build of at least 80 homes which has been blocked, was criticised at the final triennial meeting of the Rotorua Lakes Council last week.

Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick says the housing project had been 'sabotaged by petty politics”.

But it appears a local lobby group persuaded the Minster of Housing against a wider development of an area affected by last year's April flash flooding.

Steve says as one of the objectors to a proposal was now a candidate in the local body elections, it's clear a case of nimbyism had come into effect.

The RLC's operations manager Henry Weston says if rezoned residential land, the consents process would need to happen.

Large parcels of land were thought at risk areas following floods in April 2018. Also an independent report shared blame on the local and regional council in being inadequately prepared for what has been termed a 100-year flood.

Many houses were affected by the flash flooding, not only in the Ngongotaha area under discussion but also in the wider Rotorua district.

The floods caused a rethink of builds in the area. New information about flooding said at least 80 houses could be built on the site. Expert advice had been obtained to support the potential development, says Henry.

Councillor Karen Hunt says under legislation, the council was encouraged to find a piece of land. It was found and marked out. A number of people in the community could not wait for the development to come through.

News overnight indicated high growth areas had blurred the lines.

'Exactly what we have done here – we've done that, yet we've been knocked back. The Minister said we've got to ignore nimbyism (NIMBY: not in my backyard).

'This is a classic case of nimbyism at Ngongotaha and political posturing (which) derails many good projects and we cannot continue to allow this to happen,” Karen says.

She supported a decision by deputy mayor Dave Donaldson that contact be made with the Minister; it felt like the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing, Karen says.

She says councillors knew the land was needed. It was a perfect example for the council to deal with its housing crisis.

More lifestyle blocks – uneconomical use of land Karen says – were not needed. She urged an approach to the Minister.

Councillor Merepeka Raukawa-Tait says the council should have seen it coming.

Special housing accords were flawed from the start; they were put in haste by the Government to try to address the housing crisis the previous government did not acknowledge.

'Everybody is jittery about flooding in Ngongotaha,” Merepeka says. 'Forget about 100 years, we're going to get flooding often.”

Developers have said over the years they've had no end of trouble trying to get housing development in Rotorua.

The council should get back to the Minister to register its disappointment.

Because of the flooding and shortage of housing some 2700 residents were being accommodated in local hospitality units.

Councillor Rob Kent believes, like Merepeka, the SHA was 'flawed from the outset”.

He says this was signalled when a decision was made not to accept applications after a certain deadline.

'The writing was on the wall then and there – the Government (said) basically ‘we're backing out of out of the legislation we've just passed.”

Steve says an application had to be adjusted after the April 2018 floods and the council was 'jittery”.

All councillors supported the spatial plan and all had said Ngongotaha needs housing.

After the floods, she says, the council was captured by a mayoral candidate and a political lobby group that had said, 'not in Ngongotaha”.

The group said the development mustn't go through and that is outrageous, Steve says.

'And that is nimbyism and that is politics at the worst level,” Steve told councillors. 'And it happened outside of this council table – and yet there are councillors sitting around this table that are seeking re-election that allowed that to happen,” Steve says.

'We've got 2700 people on a waiting list; I wonder if councillors have ever met them sitting in motels?”

One family she had met recently were in a motel for months, living in a single room. They comprised four adults, two were sick elderly people.

Understanding the pipeline of housing development meant opening up more land for development.

'And that's exactly what we did – we did the right thing.”

But a group had lobbied ruthlessly on the backs of some of those who were affected by the floods which she says is 'outrageous”.

She agreed the council was jittery, Steve in particular as 'my family was affected while all this petty lobbying was going on all around them.”

She has undertaken to approach the Minister.

'All of us should feel outraged. We've let down our community.”