TE AWAMUTU NEWS | 1
THURSDAY MAY 23, 2024
SUPPORTING THE LOCAL COMMUNITY SINCE 1978
Since 1978 Bailey Ingham has been a one stop shop for
Bailey Ingham
Experts in providing is farmers and businesses a one stop quality professional advice in all aspects of shop accounting and taxation planning for all your - including GST, FBT, Individual/Employer company, PAYE,
and - Succession planningfarming and family guidance personal - Trust administration and advice
Carolyn Dew, financial needs. Business administration including Companies Offi- ce Manager Office requirements
Kelly Bair Director
Contact the team for a
- Windups including company liquidations FREE NO OBLIGATION INTERVIEW Supporters of local community events
FREE
It’s a real newspaper
41 Bank St, Te Awamutu 3800 Carolyn Perrett P: 07 870 1888 | E: ta@baileyingham.co.nz
MAY 23, 2024
Contact the team for a FREE NO OBLIGATION INTERVIEW to discuss y 41 Bank St Te Awamutu 3800 Ph 07 870 1888 Email: ta@b
Delays cause social unrest By Chris Gardner
Habitat for Humanity is seeking funding for an affordable housing development on the former Zion Church site on Racecourse Rd and is confident of Government
help. A change in Government and a softening housing market had created “reasonable uncertainty” for the $10 million project, said Habitat for Humanity Central Region chief executive Nic Greene.
“The sell to market and the market has softened considerably and that means that any subsidy has evaporated,” Greene said. “The progressive home ownership scheme has been fully subscribed and is unlikely to continue under
a new government, and the public housing part is yet to be announced as to what the what the new investment from central government looks like. “ Waipā District Council granted resource consent last year for 40 affordable homes
Angel in disguise
Donna McCauley of Te Awamutu participated in the International Female Ride Day around Waipā earlier this month on her Harley Davidson motorbike and featured in The News. Less than two weeks later she died in a crash on Te Poi Road near Matamata. We speak to her family and find out how thrilled she was to appear in our newspaper. See: page 5. Photo: Shirley Warner Photography.
on the one-hectare site. Now due diligence is underway on civil works. “We’re very confident that that will receive support from this new government,” Greene said. “They’ve talked about supercharging the sector, enabling better outcomes for communities by being place based, so we align with all those things, but until after the budget, we don’t really know what on earth that that actually means.” Habitat is involved with half a dozen similar projects across the Waikato. “Our pipeline’s been pretty full, but that’s been off the back of some certainty around funding settings. We’re sitting on our hands. The whole sector has been saying we just need access to capital.” In an ideal world, Greene said, the Government would provide certainty around funding in the Budget. “We’ll get a get an application and to push forward with and by the end of this year we’ll have all of that in place we’ll be starting you know some actual digging in early 2025 and then it’s probably about an 18-month development time frame,” he said. “A worst case scenario is we sit on our hands for 12 months and let the dust of the current economic climate settle a little bit and then come back to it.” This was far from ideal,
Habitat for Humanity Central Region chief executive Nic Greene is seeking funding for an affordable housing development in Te Awamutu.
he said, as there was strong interest in the development. There was a social cost to delay. “The reality is that housing in New Zealand is unaffordable and that turns into a crisis when your housing costs mean that you don’t have residual money to buy the essentials of life. So, you start making decisions that are detrimental to your household because you’ve just got no money left,” Greene said. People were choosing between seeking medical attention, paying their power bills or their mortgage, he said. “There is such a huge demand out there for the right product that meets the community at the point of need. The market is still selling high end houses to people who can afford having a bit of free cash. Everybody else is struggling to pay their mortgage or buy a loaf of bread.”
no obligation
Jim Goddin JP and Helen Carter Funeral Directors
free measure and quotes
contact one of our interior specialists today.
Celebrating Life - Your Way 07 870 2137 262 Ohaupo Road, Te Awamutu rosetown.co.nz
**Offers valid until 31/05/24 on selected ranges and colours while stocks last. Free offers have minimum order requirements. Carpet and vinyl are sold in lineal metres. We reserve the right to adjust prices without notice if necessary and we reserve the right to correct any errors. See instore or online for full details.
4 Cambridge Road, Te Awamutu Ph: 07 871 6422 169 Rora Street,Te Kuiti Ph: 07 878 3486 or 027 2727 849
www.carpetcourt.nz
homewares, gifts & décor
Phone: 07 870 1991 Email: shop@nicandmeta.co.nz
2 Alexandra Street, Te Awamutu www.nicandmeteawamutu.co.nz T’s & C’s Apply