The call comes as the second stage of the 20-house Kāinga Ora project at Albertson Ave, Port Chalmers, remains in limbo due to the government housing agency taking it off its priority list.
West Harbour Community Board member Kristina Goldsmith has been talking to Kāinga Ora about the community’s concerns.
She said she was informed late last week that the second part of the Albertson Ave development could not go ahead at this stage.
"If the reports in the media are any indication, then it’s not likely going ahead at all."
Ms Goldsmith said the situation was hugely upsetting for the community and the prospective tenants.
An old state housing development was razed late last year in order to make room for the proposed modern Kāinga Ora houses.
Ms Goldsmith said although the tenants at the old development had been moved to new premises, they would still feel "displaced" because they had been uprooted from their community.
"Where the houses used to be is now a bare site.
"[Kāinga Ora] has said its people would work on the area to make it safe for children, but I haven’t seen anything and I doubt there will be before Christmas."
Kāinga Ora regional director Kerrie Young told the ODT it was working through an assessment of proposed social housing projects, with a "focus on best value for money, so we can deliver social housing in areas where it is most needed".
"Our project at 2-12 Albertson Ave has now been assessed and we have decided not to progress with developing the site in the 2025 financial year, as it does not meet our assessment criteria for this initial stage.
"This does not mean the project has been ‘cancelled’ and we now have decisions to make about the future of the site, which may include re-working the development plans for the 2026 financial year."
Earlier this year, a report prepared by former prime minister Bill English said that Kāinga Ora was too big, too much in debt and too slow in building new houses. The report recommended opening up the market for more community social housing developers.
The government is due to make an announcement about Kāinga Ora’s future work programme shortly.
Ms Goldsmith said she was tired of the "political finger-pointing" by both the Labour and National parties.
"I understand these projects can be expensive, but we know the government had already spent about $1 million to get the Albertson Ave project to this stage.
"Whatever the reason for the cost increases, it’s not the community’s fault."
Ms Goldsmith was worried about the government playing regions against one another when it came to distributing social housing.
"There’s been a real lack of transparency."
Community board chairwoman Ange McErlane said they would prepare a letter to Housing Minister Chris Bishop outlining their concerns.
As of September, more than 405 people were on the social housing register in Dunedin.
