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Category: This Is Christchurch -> Local Governance

  • Social Housing Providers Must Protect Non-Residential Neighbours From Harrassment?

    Following up on our article about Housing NZ / Kainga Ora and Otautahi Community Housing Trust’s responsibilities to tenants, we have become aware that in the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act of 2010, Parliament sought to strengthen the requirements of the existing RTA by strengthening an existing requirement that tenants were not allowed to create disturbance…

  • Labour Health Sector Restructuring Credulity [1]

    This week the government announced the health sector will be reformed by abolishing 20 DHBs replacing them with four entities which are fully controlled by a new bureaucracy, “Health NZ”, based in Wellington. There will not be an elected membership as there currently is for the DHB system. The idea has received at best a…

  • Social Housing Providers Must Protect Tenants From Harrassment

    In recent weeks local Christchurch print media have reported a number of cases of tenants in social housing complexes being intimidated by other tenants. Whilst the provision of social housing does involve provision for tenants who may have high and complex needs, there are grounds for concern that social housing is increasingly seen as a…

  • Social Housing Works Best Under Local Authority Control

    In New Zealand we have a perennial debate about the interaction and service distribution between central government and local authority control. This happens because the country does not have any form of state government. Instead, there is one central (federal) government based in Wellington, and two tiers of local government with far less powers and…

  • 6th Labour Government led by another “smile and wave” politician of no substance.

    This blog has previously focused on concerns about Labour’s health policy with particular relevance to the Canterbury District Health Board leadership crisis. This was the subject of a series of blog posts in the last few weeks. The hallmark of the John Key led National government was that Key was perceived to be a “front…