Shovels hit the ground for Porirua Pasifika housing project
Thursday, 31 October 2024
Construction of the first of 300 affordable homes earmarked for Pasifika families in eastern Porirua starts on Friday.
A first-in-Aotearoa initiative between Porirua’s Pasifika community and mana whenua, the Our Whare Our Fale project is the brainchild of the Central Pacific Collective, building 300 Pacific village-inspired houses over the next decade on land in Cannons Creek, leased into perpetuity from Ngāti Toa Rangatira.
Formerly, 55 state houses stood on the land before they were replaced as part of the Government’s $1.5 billion Te Rā Nui – Eastern Porirua Development project, on which the iwi has first right of refusal.
Central Pacific Collective chief executive Fa'amatuainu Tino Pereira, associate housing minister Tama Potaka, Porirua mayor Anita Baker and Ngāti Toa chief executive Helmut Modlik broke the ground at a ceremony on Thursday morning.
The first tranche of 18 houses, a mixture of four two-bedroom, eight 3-4 bedroom and six 4-5 bedroom houses, are larger than regular homes. They are designed for inter-generational living, using less energy, and circles around a shared, multi-purpose fale like a Pacific village.
It is scheduled to be completed next year, with consents being applied for a further 32 houses on two nearby sites.
“I feel absolutely blessed by the overwhelming support,” Pereira said.
He told a crowd of more than 100 people the ground-breaking fulfilled many dreams of their ancestors or parents who had left their villages for a foreign land where it didn’t always appreciate the values and the world views they brought with them.
“Our ancestors wanted our children to have a greater opportunity to thrive so that they can help our communities today,” he said. “Today is the fulfilment of those hopes for daring to dream that we can build homes that will provide them with a sense of dignity which they have not had for a long, long time.”
Latest census data showed almost 70% of Cannons Creek residents didn’t own their own home, compared to 33% in Porirua City. In neighbouring Whitby just 16% don’t own their homes.
The prices for the houses are yet to be announced, but it’s understood the cost of a 4-5 bedroom house would be under $800,000.
The Central Pacific Collective said it would provide financial support for households to make raising a deposit easier and use a shared equity scheme to make housing costs more affordable.
Modlik said the project had formalised the relationship between Ngāti Toa and Porirua’s Pasifika community and marked the start of a new era supporting the city’s Pasifika people.
“As mana whenua, Ngāti Toa Rangatira has a commitment to manaaki those living in our rohe, especially those that need it most.”
Potaka believed the framework behind Our Whare Our Fale could be replicated in the Pacific Islands, and similar community-led housing initiatives had sprung up across the country. The project received $115 million backing from the Government in the 2022 Budget.
“What we’ve seen today is evidence of people bring in their own contributions to make a project roll: the iwi has put in the land, the whānau and Pasifika community have driven the delivery and government has come in and enabled it,” he said.