5 April 2022
Stefan Brown
[FYI request #18828 email]
Dear Mr Brown
Thank you for your email of 10 March 2022 to Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities via
the FYI website requesting the following information under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act):
1) How many of the proposed projects have attracted opposition from Community
Groups, individuals or other parties, including any opposition directly conveyed to
your agency by the aforementioned parties?
2) How many of the proposed projects involve council owned land being used to access
private developments?
3) How many of the proposed projects require land that has been designated (draft or
otherwise) a Significant Natural Area under the NPSIB?
4) How many proposed projects require land that was purchased by its owner (generally
likely to be a council) using funds specified for the purchase of reserves (Reserve
Fund Contributions) as defined in the Local Government Act 1974 and any
amendments?
5) How many proposed projects have attracted opposition in the community including
but not limited to public petitions calling for the cessation or alteration of the proposed
project?
6) How many of the proposed projects has Kāinga Ora received OIA requests about,
both the number of projects and the number of requests?
7) How many of the proposed projects are shovel ready being fully consented and
ready to start?
8) How many of the proposed projects have not had any form of public consultation and
are therefore likely to attract opposition thus delay any potential acceleration this fund
is seeking to provide?
I have consulted with the relevant staff regarding your request and can advise you that for
questions one and six, prior to 10 March 2022, Kāinga Ora received seven requests under
the Act asking about different IAF proposals. Prior to this date, Kāinga Ora also received a
further seven requests under the Act asking about multiple proposals or other aspects of the
IAF.
Another two letters about IAF proposals that were not made under the Act were sent to the
Minister of Housing, who passed them onto Kāinga Ora for direct response. Both these
letters and the requests under the Act mostly asked for information related to IAF proposals.
While some requests and letters raised concerns, Kāinga Ora did not ask or record if those
who made them were in opposition to any particular proposal.
Regarding the remaining questions of your request, as the role of Kāinga Ora is to evaluate
IAF proposals on behalf of the Government and provide advice to relevant Ministers who will
be making decisions, Kāinga Ora does not record the rest of the information you have
requested.
I am therefore refusing the remainder of your request under section 18(g)(i) of the Act, as:
‘…the information requested is not held by the department or Minister of the Crown
or organisation and the person dealing with the request has no grounds for believing
that the information is either held by another department or Minister of the Crown or
organisation, or by a local authority…’
However, to give an idea of the kind of factors assessed by Kāinga Ora when evaluating IAF
proposals, I can provide you with the evaluation criteria for the earlier Expression of Interest
(EOI) stage which was as follows:
1) Housing benefits of the Proposal (40%) How will the Proposal, if delivered, contribute
to the housing outcomes that are the purpose of the Fund?
2) Impact of funding (20%) How critical is this funding to advancing the Eligible
Infrastructure Project(s) and housing development?
3) Cost and co-funding (20%) How cost effective is the Proposal and is everyone paying
their fair share?
4) Capability and readiness (20%) If funding is approved, how certain is it that the
development will advance, and at what pace?
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this response.
Information about how to make a complaint is available online
at www.ombudsman.parlia
ment.nz or by phone on 0800 802 602.
Please note that Kāinga Ora proactively releases our responses to official information
requests where possible. Our response to your request may be published
at https://kainga
ora.govt.nz/publications/official-information-requests/ with your personal information
removed.
Yours sincerely
Rachel Kelly
Manager Government Relations