3-AD006.00 ENGAGEMENT OUTCOMES PROPOSED WAIHI NORTH PROJECT OceanaGold New Zealand Limited WSP April 2022 44 GROUP SUMMARY OF ENGAGEMENT- POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS IDENTIFIED • The issue of lack of housing was raised again with respect to the fact that Waihi is currently struggling to get counsellors and social workers – they cannot accept a job in Waihi as they cannot find a house. There is some resentment in the community towards OGNZL because they bought up a lot of houses and rented them out, and this hasn’t helped public perception. • If there was an influx of people, noting the knock-on effect it would have in terms of having to attract other people to Waihi to fill positions in, for example, education and health. There would be pressure on schools and all services to grow, and housing would be needed for all of these people too. • Overall, there is in no doubt that an influx of people will give Waihi a huge boost, but preparations need to be made for other things for mining employees to do when the mine closes. • Keen to have a partnership with Council and OGNZL and major providers and partners of health and social services to get a permanent residence set up where all community services, including a social hub, were under the one roof. That way everyone could be supportive of each other, and goals could be achieved – they could support the community more effectively if all together. Not having a community hub has been detrimental to the town. For example, having people drive in and out of town to provide services is not cost or time effective. A counsellor may have to drive two hours to Waihi for 2 hours of counselling, and then drive home again. A person working in Waihi could work longer hours. • A Community Centre could also provide a place: o for young people as there is currently no recreational spaces for them to hang out. As a result, they drink at home and get into trouble (D&A abuse is an issue in the area due to boredom) o to upskill locals in life skills including “How to make parents better parents” (budgeting, cooking, planning) o to provide mentoring and support for people getting back into the work force.
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