Government announces $1.9 million for Whanganui housing infrastructure

Published on 13 October 2022

Housing Minister Megan Woods has announced $192 million in funding for infrastructure today, including a $1.9 million investment in Whanganui.

The funding is for associated transport and three waters infrastructure works to extend Carson Street in Castlecliff to enable approximately 340 additional homes in the area, with plans for intergenerational housing.

Tūpoho Investments Limited has partnered with Whanganui District Council for the project and Tūpoho Chair Ken Mair says, “We support genuine relationships with Iwi, Hapū and community within the Whanganui rohe and this is an exciting opportunity to advance this relationship through this venture.

“This housing project is a real opportunity to progress the housing aspirations of our whānau and community in particular the absolute shortage of housing we are experiencing in our community.”

He says, “The need for affordable and quality housing is paramount and will be of particular focus for all of us in this housing project.”

Whanganui District Council Chief Executive David Langford says, “This is a fantastic result for Whanganui. The funding will allow Whanganui District Council to quickly build the core infrastructure needed to get this development off the ground.

“An additional 340 homes will have a big impact on easing our housing pressures and we are looking forward to seeing the development get underway.”

ENDS

Editor’s notes:

The Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF) is a contestable fund of approximately $1 billion, designed to allocate funding for infrastructure to enable housing development – such as transport, three waters or flood management. It is part of the Government’s $3.8 billion Housing Acceleration Fund announced in March 2021.

Administered by Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, the IAF was launched by the Government in June 2021.
The IAF was open to territorial authorities, developers and iwi to apply for transport, three waters or flood-management funding to service the development of new or additional housing in the medium term.
The successful applicants (i.e. councils, developers and/or iwi) are responsible for delivering the IAF-funded infrastructure and building the homes it enables.
All applications have been subject to robust evaluation, led by Kāinga Ora – Home and Communities, and involving input from other Government agencies, with final decisions made by the Ministers of Housing and Finance.
Over 200 initial expressions of interest were received in the early stages of the IAF, with over $5 billion requested from the approximately $1 billion fund.
Of the approximately 200 initial expressions of interest, applicants of 80 proposals were invited to submit a response to request for proposal in December 2021.
In December 2021, $6.1 million of IAF funding was announced for Kenepuru Landing in Porirua, enabling over 400 additional homes.
Thirty-five proposals were invited to progress the final due diligence and negotiation stage in May 2022.
The first tranche of IAF funding was announced in July 2022. Further tranches are expected later this year and early 2023.

For more information on the IAF, please see www.kaingaora.govt.nz/iaf