Enderley residents are hanging their hopes on a last-ditch attempt to stop a $17m housing development they feel will be of no benefit to their community.

A petition is being set up against the Nga Rau Tatangi Maori Housing development with opponents contesting they've had little information on the project and the houses, when built, will be unaffordable for many people living in the suburb.

Those heading the project say it will be built for the benefit of the community but that's not how resident Arihia Dinsdale sees the situation. She said the first she heard about the development was in the newspaper.

BRUCE MERCER / Fairfax NZ LOCKED OUT: Shakespeare Ave resident Arihia Dinsdale will be petitioning against the $17m housing development in Enderley set to start early next month.

"When I read that this is what the community has decided I thought 'but who from the community?', because that's not me - that's not representing me," she said.

"I'm not against building on the land but if this development is supposed to be for us, for those in the community, than where was the opportunity to have input on the plans?"

Dinsdale said the petition is "something I have to do because these houses will be here forever and so will we, so we need a proper consultation". She is working her way through the suburb asking for people to support the petition which she plans to present to the development leaders, Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa. She also wants to present a copy to the Hamilton City Council.

The two-year development project is due to start next month. The first stage of the development will take place on Mardon Rd through to Shakespeare Ave and then Elliot St and will include 25 dwellings.

Stage 2 will include 23 homes and the last stage on Tennyson Rd will be 14 homes.

Attempts to talk to community project manager Yvonne Wilson were unsuccessful.

The project's communications representative Sharon Lambert said the community was informed of the development early last year.

"The Runanga is completely funding this development; it's the Runanga's money," she said.

"The Runanga have purchased this land from Waikato-Tainui.

"The Runanga has actually put the development up and [we] put it together and yes we did go along and say to the community, 'Yes this is what we're looking at doing - this is what we intend to do and we are quite happy to hear your concerns'."

"It's just like anybody that goes and builds a house somewhere."

Lambert said residents were invited to address their concerns at monthly meetings and said ultimately the development is for the benefit of the community.

"It's equipped with the Runanga's values of working for the people with people and striving to assist people in giving them a hand up, which is trying to put them on the ladder of home ownership," she said.

The dwellings will retail from $310,000 for a two-bedroom unit, to $370,000 for a three-bedroom house and $400,000 for a four-bedroom house.

The dwellings will be a mix of rent, rent-to-buy and buy options and Lambert said there has been a lot of interest so far.

"Some who can afford to buy can use KiwiSaver, et cetera. That's fine [because] it's a challenge getting the deposit and with the rent-to-buy option we will be looking at that over a five-year period," she said.

"We're probably [going to] be charging the market rent but because the Runanga is an approved community housing provider, we're actually entitled to an income-related subsidy.

"We will be doing everything we can to make the houses affordable."

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Missey Mamaru has lived in Enderley for over 50 years and has raised two generations in the community she calls home.

She can point out out all the family homes along Mardon Rd and fires off a long list of names, including how long the family has lived in the area.

Mamaru said the new houses are not affordable based on the income people in the Enderley area are being paid. She agrees with Dinsdale that there needed to be consultation with the community before the development plans were made.

"Plans were already set in place before the first [community] meeting so how can it be a consultation when they're telling us about it?" she said.

"I can tell you all the family houses that have been here for years and who they are and it's just annoying me that things are happening and some people are taking it upon themselves to say that they are the community."

The 58-year-old said she struggles to understand the benefits for those currently in the area and for future generations.

"The houses are not affordable to us. I can't see where Wilson [community project manager Yvonne Wilson] is coming from that will help us or make a difference to us," said Mamaru

"I have four moko living with me from the ages 14 to 20 and I can't see how this will benefit them."

The Runanga have said there will be efforts to employ local workers and to work with Wintec's Maori trades unit.

The philosophy behind the build has also been a hot topic, with the Runanga having a zero tolerance for violence meaning a complete ban on drugs and a communal backyard.

"This development was about building villages. It took a village to raise a child. There was a zero tolerance for violence in this development, so violence fuelled by alcohol and drugs - we will not tolerate that," said Lambert.

"I think we should be trying to implement these concepts and these policies. I don't think it's good enough to think somebody else will. I think the Runanga are prepared to take that on.

"Some people [in the community] have said they have had enough of the violence and they don't want the drugs and the violence."

Mamaru said she agrees that residents should be taking a stand against violence in communities but said Enderley is no different from other suburbs.

"They've got the same problems that we have here except we've all grown up to survive. It's a different way of living here."