Waipā District Council says it has gone above and beyond to service the needs of its tenants.

Dave Varcoe

The council was responding to a story in last week’s Cambridge News where tenants suggested there has been no response to complaints concerning vermin, mould and items needing repair.

Property manager David Varcoe said staff had been upset by the allegations and the council wanted to “put the record straight”.

“Staff responded immediately to a complaint about a rat in 2021 and again in 2023. Rat traps are permanently on site, are regularly serviced and our contractors advise there are no issues with vermin,” he said.

The complaints centred on the Dr Tod Court Housing for the Elderly complex in Cambridge.

It was alleged there were rats and mice, mould on the walls, delays in installing smoke alarms, a leaking hot water cylinder which resulted in high electricity bills, a poorly secured pelmet, a stain on the carpet, lawns left unmown, and holes in the guttering.

“Alarms are serviced annually and have just been serviced recently. All were compliant. It’s in our interest to make sure this is the case. Every single alarm is serviced at the same time as the heat pump units are serviced,” Varcoe said.

Staff were aware of a poorly secured pelmet which fell down and established it had been the subject of repairs not carried out by the council.

“Had we known we would have sent a contractor in immediately and that’s exactly what we did once we found out about it.”

Lawns were mowed regularly as were lawns at all of council’s pensioner housing complexes.

He said the units were refurbished at a cost of $10-20,000 when tenancies changed.

In one case a plumber called to a service request about a hot water cylinder leak advised the leak would not have been the cause of a spike in the electricity bill, but the council had provided $150 towards power costs.

Staff had a warm relationship with most tenants and had got to know many of them personally over many years. It was common to share a cup of tea, provide Christmas cards and support them during tough times.

“We care about our tenants.  If we didn’t, council wouldn’t be investing in pensioner housing,” Varcoe said.

“We will continue to work with all of our tenants to ensure the very best outcomes for them.”

Not a fair go

Roy Pilott

Last week Cambridge News published a story in which residents in a pensioner housing complex complained about their landlord – the Waipā District Council.

It is The News’ policy to run balanced stories which present all sides of an issue. I ran the story last week without ensuring that balance existed and without checking whether allegations made were factually correct.

Council staff face public scrutiny well beyond what their counterparts in the private sector can expect, and as such ensuring our stories are balanced is imperative. The council always strives to respond to our questions in a timely manner and in this case, informed us that it could not meet a very tight deadline.

Balance ensures accuracy and fairness. I apologise to readers and to Waipā District Council staff and councillors for not achieving that.

–           Roy Pilott, editor

14 September 2023

Pensioners cry foul

Speed zone: from left Carol Sandbrook, Wendy Cameron and Jocelyn Jones have complained about conditions at their pensioner housing. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.

Three pensioners who are tenants in one of Waipā’s seven elderly housing complexes say the council is one of the worst landlords they have experienced.

While acknowledging how grateful they were to be in the units, Carol Sandbrook, Wendy Cameron and Jocelyn Jones told The News they often felt no one at the council was listening to their complaints.

The women live in Dr Tod Court in Cambridge – named after Henry Tod a general practitioner in the town between 1923 and 1973 and mayor from 1953-1956. It has 13 one bedroom units in Victoria Street.

But rats and mice, mould on the walls, delays in installing smoke alarms, a leaking hot water cylinder which resulted in months of high electricity bills, a poorly secured pelmet, a large stain on the carpet, lawns left unmowed and holes in the guttering are among the complaints which go unanswered for weeks, they say.

The News asked the council to respond but Property Projects manager David Varcoe is away. We will publish his response next week.

The women contacted The News after we reported rents would increase at the 93 housing for elderly units it owns in Cambridge, Te Awamutu and Kihikihi.

Increases would be capped at $30 per week and no tenants would pay ‘market rent’, says a paper presented in a public excluded meeting to councillors last month by Property advisor Toni Ensor and released to The News last week.

“We feel quite privileged to be here in the pensioner houses named after Dr Tod who brought a lot of kids into the world,” said Jocelyn, 87, a long-time resident of Cambridge.

Pensioners unite: from left Wendy Cameron, Carol Sandbrook, Jocelyn Jones – the Dr Tod Court residents angry at conditions at pensioner housing. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.

“We appreciate our housing; we don’t mind paying the rent, but they do nothing. You ring up to get something done, you get no communication from them,” said Carol, 74, who moved from Whakatane to Cambridge two years ago.

Wendy, 68, has lived in Cambridge for 30 years and moved into her unit in November last year.

Her biggest gripe is the disruption caused by motorists.

“Everywhere else in the pensioner places have signs up saying ‘residents only’ – this place doesn’t. Everyone uses it like the highway.

“There’s old people here who are deaf and a lot of people have cats and one has already been run over.”

Jocelyn said she was angered at The News’ story which said the council debated the rent increases behind closed doors. None of them have met any of the elected members on either the council or community board.

“We wouldn’t have a clue who they are. We have contributed to society so they should listen.

“I’m going down to the council to make an appointment to see the mayor. She needs to know,” said Jocelyn.

“It is the attitude of our landlord, the council, that irritates me. We want to be looked after equally,” said Carol.

“We’ve had enough.”

The three women are great mates who look out for each other.

“We’re quite full of life us three, we have a lot of laughs,” said Jocelyn.

“But they (the council) need to be pulled up, they need to be accountable.”

The paper presented to elected members said council was forgoing revenue of $305,448 annually because of its policy of not* charging market rents.

Total rental income in the 2023-24 financial year is expected to yield $1.393 million.

The council’s Pensioner Housing Policy provides direction for the ongoing management of council’s housing for the elderly stock.

Any money generated from the housing has to be used for the maintenance, management, renewal and extension of pensioner houses.

Council has recently started work on 10 new one-storey units at Vaile Court in Leamington. They will be leased to Habitat for Humanity to manage.

Waipā is one of few councils in New Zealand which still provides housing for older people in the community.

• The paper presented to elected members said council was forgoing revenue of $305,448 annually because of its policy of not* charging market rents. Our print version said now instead of not. We regret the error.