Homeless teens move out of New Lynn bush

The young people who set up a camp in the bush in West Auckland have moved out. Most are now in temporary housing.

The group of mostly teenagers were interviewed on television and made headlines last month after their makeshift tent sites were discovered in bush behind shops.

New Lynn MP David Cunliffe, who has visited the camp regularly in recent weeks, said it had now been abandoned.

He would receive a case-by-case briefing soon, but said most of the camp residents had found accommodation.

"All but two of them have been housed by either Winz in temporary accommodation, or there are a couple of social housing agencies that have helped place people. There were two that found their own accommodation, who were the last to leave.

"In general terms I'm told that they are all okay. Our focus has switched to cleaning up the site, so we don't attract a recurrence. And now working with local police and community groups to ensure that the area is not a magnet for other people that might want to commit crime."

Mr Cunliffe said that, unrelated the the camp, there had been a surge in street crime within his electorate. He criticised a lack of social housing and support under the current Government.

"You just can't fudge the run-down in state housing, and housing has become in my electorate office by far and away the number one case type. People [are] turning up basically without a proper place to live."