Tenants discuss concerns

A Napier woman facing eviction, as Housing New Zealand implements new Government social housing policy, was charged with being unlawfully on one of the agency's properties she was inspecting as a possible replacement.

Speaking at a meeting at the Maraenui shopping centre last night, the woman told bemused fellow tenants how police arrived while she was looking at the property in Massey Cres, in neighbouring Marewa.

She pleaded not guilty in court when she was remanded on bail - forbidding her entering the property.

In an ironic twist, she now expects to be the tenant by the time the case goes back to court in December.

The woman is one of about 24 people being offered alternative properties by Housing New Zealand.

Housing New Zealand has told the tenants they have 90 days to vacate their present homes, which are considered potential earthquake risks.

About 65 properties in the area are vacant and many at the meeting were annoyed by Housing NZ claims that is because people don't want to live there, when they know of people urgently needing accommodation suitable for low-income families.

Former bank worker Paul Bailey, who lives in Marewa, said that even when organisers did a survey among properties in the area, some were "cagey" about offering the information even to people they knew were supporting them.

The meeting ended with a blessing of the emptying sites across the road, and a call for people to join similar communities in a march to Parliament on November 7.