Most of the first day focused on the ministry’s evidence, which included how he believed the problems would get worse if consent was not extended.

Evidence from the Rotorua Lakes Council on Wednesday looked at some details, such as specific conditions for motels.

He said he would work with the ministry on things including strengthening alcohol policies and how it could improve play areas at motels within a year, as well as work on details of an exit strategy.

The council’s head of planning and consents team, Lorelle Barry, said accepted motels had a high degree of compliance and direct complaints to the council about things like noise and illegal parking.

Consultant Rebecca Foy gave evidence on the social impact of emergency motel housing and agreed with the ministry that it was difficult to demonstrate whether problems near motels were attributable to residents of contracted or non-contracted motels.

She noted that the evidence showed a perception that the use of motels as emergency housing created negative effects on social welfare in the community.

Sale of affected property and mistrust of process

Submissions from individuals included issues such as a desire to see increased reporting of motel occupancy, disbelief that all motel residents were local, and disbelief in the process and agencies involved.

Violent confrontations, public begging and cases of urinating and defecating in the city center have all been attributed to emergency housing by multiple applicants.

Lobby group Restore Rotorua has also argued it does not want the agreements granted.

Member and property owner for Glenholme, Carolyne Hall, said she was fighting the “Goliaths” of the council and the ministry.

She said the residents are the real experts.

Hall described how this year he put the family home up for sale. In June, 24 hours before the sale became unconditional, her lawyer emailed that the buyer was pulling out after finding the emergency housing agreement in the LIM report on the property behind her.

She described how the motels contracted with emergency housing took a toll on her family – physically and emotionally – and now a financial loss.

Restore Rotorua president Trevor Newbrook said the group supported placing people in housing but not motels, which were deemed unsuitable as a long-term solution.

Restoration Rotorua legal adviser Bridget Bailey focused on the “lived experiences” of wider residents – their disappointment at having to re-engage in the process and how, despite their evidence, consents were granted in 2022 .

Then there were almost 4000 submissions from 350 submissions. There were over 100 from 37 applicants this year.

Bailey said there were fewer submissions from the community because they felt “battle-weary” and distrustful of the process.

In 2022, they were given “light at the end of the tunnel” and there was a feeling that the ministry was not being held accountable for the consent requirement to leave hotels this year.

She said the anxiety and fear was as real now as it was in 2022 and it was “completely unacceptable” to continue for another year.

Bailey said anti-social behavior outside the venue was a “very predictable” consequence.

Nearby residents were not safe in their own homes or walking in their neighborhoods, seeing fights, increased police presence, confronted criminals, saw trash and carts used by motel occupants.

Those residents were the experts on the negative impacts, she said, as they experienced them daily and the past two years had shown those impacts to be “very real.”

Restaure Rotorua legal counsel Mai Chen said at the very least, residents suffered psychological harm.

Her evidence included a particular focus on what the group believed was a lack of detail provided in the consent applications, particularly in relation to reducing the use of motels.

“It’s just too conjectural in the face of the pain the community is experiencing right now.”

Residents had little faith in the process this time, she said, and wanted black-and-white details.

The applications were not customized, but all seven were the same, she said, and did not reflect the government’s position to have only four motels in use by mid-2025.

“It’s about people’s lives. It’s about the psychological damage done … they’ve already had four years of this.”

She didn’t think there was enough evidence that there was a plan to leave the motels within a year.

The hearing will end today.

Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express and has been a journalist since 2019.

– LDR is the journalism of a local body, co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.