“I don’t want to be dramatic, but we all know there are people out there living in tents, and year round.”

That was the message Central Otago Housing Group chair Peter Griffen told the Central Otago District Council this week.

Speaking in the public forum at the first Central Otago District council meeting of the year, Peter outlined the group’s plans on how it wanted to help address the ongoing accommodation problem.

The group of six was currently putting together a map of Central Otago’s housing ecosystem, building on the existing work already done.

“We’ve engaged with a number of public and social housing providers to explore opportunities in this district," he added.

But, a proper needs assessment was necessary that would help with determining all of the issues faced by the district, in regard to housing.

The group was asking council for both support in principle and financially, in helping them to apply for funding for this work - which was estimated at $150,000.

“We are the enablers of partnerships and networking, and we see the benefit . . . we are not here to point the finger. We really want to get alongside and oil the machine,” he said.

Preferring to use the wording ‘obtainable’ rather than affordable housing, Peter said this was to address the stigma attached for certain people.

“Affordability will be a resource for the entire housing sector.”

We will have more on the Central Otago Housing Group in our news tomorrow.