Source: Radio New Zealand
Lauren Fraser at the gate to her property, with the Puwhakamua programme residence behind her. Rotorua Daily Post / Mathew Nash
A neighbour of a live-in parolee rehabilitation facility in Rotorua says she feels so unsafe in her generational family home that she avoids spending time there.
The Pūwhakamua programme, which supports paroled ex-prisoners reintegrating into the community, breached its agreement with the Department of Corrections “multiple” times last year and has struggled to find a future location.
Now it is heading for an Environment Court date with Rotorua Lakes Council over its current Owhata site.
Pūwhakamua is operated by the Tikanga Aroro Charitable Trust and has been based at the end of a bumpy dirt track off Te Ngae Rd since 2018 and under contract to Corrections since November 2022.
The council served the trust an abatement notice in March after an inspection found the facility was operating without necessary consent under the District Plan.
This notice was withdrawn after the trust said it met “papakāinga” provisions, which allow for up to 10 residential units in rural zones.
The council has since elevated the matter to the Environment Court.
Lauren Fraser’s property sits atop a short uphill track overlooking about a dozen prefabricated cabins that the programme uses to house offenders released on parole as they are supported to reintegrate into the community.
However, she is increasingly staying away from her home, which had been in her family for six generations.
She said she does not feel safe at the property and keeps her grandchildren away.
“It’s quite intimidating and I don’t want them around that,” Fraser said.
“I just need peace and quiet, but I don’t feel safe at all.”
She claimed she has been verbally abused and threatened by people associated with the programme, and that parolees littered her property with cigarette butts and beer bottles, despite being prohibited from using alcohol.
A plan to move Pūwhakamua to Waikite Valley was axed in September after pushback from local residents, the council and Corrections.
Fraser said while she understood the need for the programme, she believed the current location was also inappropriate as, despite being off a main road, it remained isolated.
“As a single woman, up here, it doesn’t feel very safe.”
Department of Corrections provides funding for the Puwhakamua programme. NZ Herald / Greg Bowker
Pūwhakamua is permitted to provide for up to 14 men at one time and currently has 10 on its books, with eight permitted to live on-site.
Corrections said there had been “multiple instances” where more than eight offenders were found to be residing at the site in 2025.
It said there have been no recorded breaches since May, after the trust was reminded of the “expectations” of their agreement.
Since November 2022, Corrections has provided the programme with $2.6 million and agreed to fund $800,000 annually until 2027, alongside a $2.7m conditional infrastructure grant in 2023.
Corrections deputy chief executive of communities, partnerships and pathways Sean Mason said staff visited the Pūwhakamua site fortnightly.
Mason said programme participants must comply with their parole conditions and follow the programme’s own no-alcohol policy.
The Pūwhakamua service was also monitored through bi-annual contract reviews, monthly regional meetings and quarterly governance meetings, Mason said.
While public safety remained the “top priority”, Mason said Corrections was committed to safe reintegration for parolees through suitable accommodation, which can help “reduce the risk” of reoffending.
The alternative of parolees “living on the streets or in cars” posed an “unacceptable safety risk”, he said.
Rotokawa Mana Whenua group leader and advocate Renee Kiriona. Rotorua Daily Post / Andrew Warner
Rotokawa Mana Whenua group leader and advocate Renee Kiriona said the system had failed Fraser.
“Corrections says it’s all about the safety of the community and the safety of the public, but they don’t care about Lauren,” Kiriona said.
“No woman from this land, whose family for generations have lived on this land, should be living in fear.”
Kiriona said she complained to Corrections last October.
A senior Corrections employee acknowledged her complaint and said it raised “several serious matters” that required time to “investigate and respond to fully”.
Kiriona also complained to the Independent Police Complaints Authority (IPCA) regarding what she called “police inaction”.
A police spokesperson could not provide comment about instances at a specific address, but Local Democracy Reporting understands the police were made aware of the IPCA complaint in November.
Puwhakamua founder Billy Macfarlane did not respond to questions posed via Tikanga Aroro Charitable Trust. Rotorua Daily Post / Andrew Warner
A spokesperson for Tikanga Aroro Charitable Trust said neither they nor Pūwhakamua founder, reformed former drug lord Billy Macfarlane, could comment as “most of the matters” were before the court.
A council spokesperson said an application had been lodged with the Environment Court to determine whether the programme’s activity is permitted or required resource consent for the Owhata site.
“We don’t have anything further to add at this time.”
Environment Court service manager Gemma Carlyon said the matter was set for “court-assisted mediation”, rather than a formal hearing.
Originally scheduled for the end of January, this had been pushed back due “to party unavailability”, with a new date yet to be finalised.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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