Modcom Portable Buildings Limited has been awarded the contract to supply 10 relocatable homes for use by people displaced from their flood-damaged homes.
The units will form a ‘relocatable house park’ to be sited at the Whakatāne Holiday Park and will be available to meet flood-related, temporary housing needs for up to one year. The development is a joint initiative between the Whakatāne District Council and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), with the Council purchasing the relocatable units and retaining them for future tourism accommodation purposes. MBIE has agreed to contribute $700,000 to cover transport and infrastructure needs (road access, water, wastewater and power connections, etc) for the relocatable house park.
The Council had budgeted $850,000 to purchase the units, but following consideration of the tender outcomes at last week’s extraordinary Council meeting, Modcom’s tender to supply six two-bedroom units and four 1-bedroom units for $861,732 was accepted. Council Places and Open Spaces Manager Mike Naude reported that the four tenders received had been evaluated on price and non-price attributes, which confirmed that Modcom’s offering provided “the best overall value”.
He said the mix of two- and one-bedroom units was also a good fit for both temporary housing use and the Holiday Park’s longer-term tourism accommodation needs.
Council elected members approved a recommendation that the budget for the project be increased by $50,000, to $900,000, to cover the additional purchase cost and provide a small contingency fund for any unforeseen costs which might arise. Taking into account depreciation, debt servicing costs and projected income, the net cost to the Council over a 10-year period is expected to be just over $65,000.
A resource consent for the project has been approved, and the Council expects building consents for the foundation design to be lodged this week. If the development proceeds as expected, the first of the units should be ready for occupation by the end of July.