It’s called progress. One definition is "an onward movement towards a destination". Another is "development towards an improved or more advanced condition".
We shouldn’t really have to be teaching the coalition government how to suck eggs when it comes to this. But some days it feels like they need it.
Having embarked on a gobsmacking reversal on New Zealand’s smoke-free 2025 legislation, which was being held up across the world as bold and innovative, we are now on the cusp of a flabbergasting turnaround when it comes to trying to, finally, make our homes warmer, drier and safer to live in.
The suggestion by Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk that insulation standards introduced last year could be rescinded to save money on a new home is typical of some of the short-term thinking of this government.
Mr Penk says he is of the view that the new H1 standard — the first significant improvement to insulation and glazing in more than a decade — adds as much as $40,000 to $50,000 to the price-tag of new homes.
He wonders if reducing the amount of insulation would make new homes more affordable and speed up their construction.
Those figures have now been disputed by builders, including some in the South, who say the H1 standard typically adds between $10,000 and $20,000 for a standard new home. The level of extra expense referred to by the minister was more likely for a home worth $2 million to $3m, they said. Building industry members said while they understood construction costs were too high in New Zealand, our insulation requirements still remained lower than in many other countries.
The new standard was a positive move towards making Kiwi homes more liveable and sustainable.
Mr Penk probably needs to go back to the drawing board. While the desire to lower costs and increase the number of new homes is to be applauded, we believe the idea of doing it this way is seriously flawed.
Generations of southerners have had to suffer being brought up, and continuing to live, in cold, damp houses where windows run with condensation in winter, if that moisture hasn’t frozen.
These homes, until say the last couple of decades, have been poorly designed to try to keep in the heat and often come as a shock to visitors, particularly those from colder climates. But, finally, we have been making progress.
There are other factors to consider too. People living in a warm, dry house will be happier and generally have better health, which means fewer children off school or parents off work, and a lower burden on the medical and hospital system. Importantly, a more comfortable environment also lifts mood and is good for mental health.
That’s another longer-term benefit which a government obsessed with quick fixes will probably overlook.
If Mr Penk and his advisers continue to think this is the best way to save money and speed up house construction, now momentum towards better homes is at long last under way, they are welcome to come south and spend a few winter nights in a good old draughty Dunedin villa.
State of the roads
Transport Minister Simeon Brown seems to be good at reading the room when it comes to traffic annoyances.
The invasion of, it would be no exaggeration to say, millions of road cones across the country has irritated the minister as well, who has announced steps to send as many of them as possible back to their own planet.
He is also introducing a requirement for potholes on busy roads and state highways to be fixed within a day of them being reported.
A bouquet for Mr Brown.
