{"id":223666,"date":"2026-01-08T18:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T18:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/223666\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T18:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T18:47:08","slug":"neighbour-of-rotorua-parolee-facility-speaks-out-as-rehab-programme-faces-next-location-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/223666\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbour of Rotorua parolee facility speaks out as rehab programme faces next location battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The council served the trust an abatement notice in March after an inspection found the facility<\/a> was operating without necessary consent under the District Plan.<\/p>\n

This notice was withdrawn after the trust said it met \u201cpapak\u0101inga\u201d provisions, which allow for up to 10 residential units in rural zones. <\/p>\n

The council has since elevated the matter to the Environment Court.<\/p>\n

Lauren Fraser\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

However, she is increasingly staying away from her home, which had been in her family for six generations.<\/p>\n

She said she does not feel safe at the property and keeps her grandchildren away.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite intimidating and I don\u2019t want them around that,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just need peace and quiet, but I don\u2019t feel safe at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Department of Corrections provides funding for the P\u016bwhakamua programme. Photo \/ Greg Bowker<\/p>\n

A plan to move P\u016bwhakamua to Waikite Valley was axed in September<\/a> after pushback from local residents, the council and Corrections.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a single woman, up here, it doesn\u2019t feel very safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

P\u016bwhakamua 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.<\/p>\n

Corrections said there had been \u201cmultiple instances\u201d where more than eight offenders were found to be residing at the site in 2025.<\/p>\n

It said there have been no recorded breaches since May, after the trust was reminded of the \u201cexpectations\u201d of their agreement.<\/p>\n

Since November 2022, Corrections has provided the programme $2.6 million and agreed to fund $800,000 annually until 2027, alongside a $2.7m conditional infrastructure grant in 2023.<\/p>\n

Corrections deputy chief executive of communities, partnerships and pathways Sean Mason said staff visited the P\u016bwhakamua site fortnightly. <\/p>\n

Mason said programme participants must comply with their parole conditions and follow the programme\u2019s own no-alcohol policy.<\/p>\n

The P\u016bwhakamua service was also monitored through bi-annual contract reviews, monthly regional meetings and quarterly governance meetings, Mason said.<\/p>\n

While public safety remained the \u201ctop priority\u201d, Mason said Corrections was committed to safe reintegration for parolees through suitable accommodation, which can help \u201creduce the risk\u201d of reoffending.<\/p>\n

The alternative of parolees \u201cliving on the streets or in cars\u201d posed an \u201cunacceptable safety risk\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

\"RotokawaRotokawa Mana Whenua group leader and advocate Renee Kiriona. Photo \/ Andrew Warner<\/p>\n

Rotokawa Mana Whenua group leader and advocate Renee Kiriona said the system had failed Fraser.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorrections says it\u2019s all about the safety of the community and the safety of the public, but they don\u2019t care about Lauren,\u201d Kiriona said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo woman from this land, whose family for generations have lived on this land, should be living in fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kiriona said she complained to Corrections last October.<\/p>\n

A senior Corrections employee acknowledged her complaint and said it raised \u201cseveral serious matters\u201d that required time to \u201cinvestigate and respond to fully\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kiriona also complained to the Independent Police Complaints Authority (IPCA) regarding what she called \u201cpolice inaction\u201d.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Tikanga Aroro Charitable Trust said neither they nor P\u016bwhakamua founder, reformed former drug lord Billy Macfarlane, could comment as \u201cmost of the matters\u201d were before the court.<\/p>\n

\"P\u016bwhakamuaP\u016bwhakamua founder Billy Macfarlane. Photo \/ Andrew Warner<\/p>\n

A council spokesperson said an application had been lodged with the Environment Court to determine whether the programme\u2019s activity is permitted or required resource consent for the Owhata site.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have anything further to add at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Environment Court service manager Gemma Carlyon said the matter was set for \u201ccourt-assisted mediation\u201d, rather than a formal hearing.<\/p>\n

Originally scheduled for the end of January, this had been pushed back due \u201cto party unavailability\u201d, with a new date yet to be finalised.<\/p>\n

Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.<\/p>\n

\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The council served the trust an abatement notice in March after an inspection found the facility was operating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[806,33524,5837,6119,11163,2109,35964,59566,1345,133933,39084,6377,111,43,139,1536,69,1118,3111,133932,9527,28700,17718,1327,312,17213,8262,1361,684,2044,46656],"class_list":["post-223666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-as","tag-avoids","tag-battle","tag-faces","tag-facility","tag-family","tag-feels","tag-generational","tag-home","tag-livein","tag-location","tag-neighbour","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-next","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-out","tag-parolee","tag-programme","tag-rehab","tag-rehabilitation","tag-rotorua","tag-says","tag-speaks","tag-spending","tag-that","tag-there","tag-time","tag-unsafe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}