Te Puke councillor Mike Lally believes tenants in the Western Bay of Plenty District Council's pensioner flats deserve better.

He says the council-owned flats in Lee St and Slater Place in Te Puke charge higher rents, and are of lesser quality, than other social housing providers.

He also believes the necessary maintenance isn't being carried out.

'They're not being looked after. A couple of staff from council come over every now and then, and that's it,” says Mike.

'When I was chairman of the Te Puke Community Board we had it under control. But that was nearly 20 years ago. Now there's no relationship between the community board and the people in the pensioner flats.”

He's circulated a letter among councillors and members of the Te Puke Community Board, as well as tenants of the flats, outlining his ideas. Essentially, he'd like to see the council become a silent partner, handing over the running of the flats to a trust, with more local input.

First priority would be tidying the units up and installing much-needed heat pumps.

'I'm pretty sure we can drop the rent, too. If other providers can do it for a lot less, and look after their places, why can't we?”

He says the response so far has generally been positive. 'I've got a lot of support from the community board. They think it's wonderful.”

Many of the tenants agree. Margaret Edge has been living at the Lee St flats for eight years.

'We feel a bit neglected,” she says. 'Whenever we want something done with the units we have to ring up and put a service request in, even if we want a washer replaced on a tap.”

Regular maintenance isn't done, unless it's requested. Ken McPhee, who's been in a Slater Place unit for five years, says it's a good place to live but feels the council could do more to make the tenants comfortable.

'The units aren't bad, but the bedrooms in winter are like an iceberg. Very cold, very damp.”

He's had a look at Mike's proposal, and reckons some of his ideas are quite good.

'I've always maintained any money we pay in rent should go into a trust account so any maintenance that's needed can be paid for,” says Ken.

Another Slater Place resident of 15 years, Hazel Sweetman, supports the idea of new heat pumps.

'The flats are very cold and draughty in the winter time. It was only a couple years ago I got them to put some rubbers down under the doors, because it wasn't worth having the heaters going.”

A council spokesperson says proposals similar to Mike's have been looked at in the past.

'However, trusts initially interested have not followed through with a suitable offer that would ensure tenants' benefits were not reduced in any way.”