Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga retailers desperate to keep begging and rough sleeping ban

Kiri Gillespie
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
18 Nov, 2019 09:56 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tauranga CBD retailers are begging the council not to get rid of the 'begging ban'. Photo / file

Tauranga CBD retailers are begging the council not to get rid of the 'begging ban'. Photo / file

Revoking Tauranga's controversial begging and rough sleeping ban is one step closer to reality after a narrow decision by city leaders today.

On November 20, 2018, Tauranga City Council voted 6-5 to ban begging and rough sleeping within 5m of public entrances to retail or hospitality premises in the Tauranga City, Greerton and Mount Maunganui CBDs.

The decision was met with a wave of support from retailers, criticism from homeless advocates and an application for judicial review from Tauranga Housing Advocacy Trust, which was concerned the bylaw was a breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights. A hearing date for the review has been set for March 5, 2020.

Today, the newly formed council voted 6-5 to move ahead on a recommendation to revoke the begging and rough sleeping provisions in its Street Use and Public Places Bylaw 2018. Consultation is expected now take place, leading into early next year.

The decision comes despite pleas to elected members from retailers affected by people aggressively begging and scaring off customers.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Downtown Tauranga chairman Brian Berry told the council: "If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it."

READ MORE: New Tauranga council to vote on future of controversial begging ban

Berry was part of about 25 people who gathered in the public forum for a meeting at council chambers today to hear elected member decided whether to keep the bylaw.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said there had been a notable difference in the city centre since the begging and rough sleeping bylaw came into effect in April this year.

Berry referred to concerns surrounding the bylaw regarding the New Zealand Bill of Rights, which refers to respect for all people irrelevent of their status, and questioned what respect beggars and rough sleepers had for retailers trying to make a living.

Greerton Village Community Association manager Sally Benning also asked the council to retain the bylaw.

"We would be devastated if it were revoked. I can speak for everyone in Greerton."

Discover more

Tauranga CBD set to light up with festive spirit

15 Nov 05:39 AM
New Zealand|education

Teacher censured for doing students' work for them

17 Nov 02:31 AM

Welcome Bay Lane to reopen

18 Nov 12:12 AM

Letters: Homeless not wanted in the CBD

18 Nov 05:07 PM

Benning said she had already written to elected members about the issue in the past week along with several Greerton businesses, some of whom were present in the meeting in support of her.

"In the seven-and-a-half months since we've seen a 360 turnaround with what happens in Greerton with regards to our business owners.

"People have come back, slowly to start, with but people are certainly coming back in numbers simply because they feel safe."

Councillor Heidi Hughes noted there were no representatives of homeless or vulnerable people presenting and questioned whether elected members were appropriately briefed before making the decision.

Policy Committee chairman Steve Morris noted Hughes' concerns and requested more information to be provided to councillors today.

Those councillors who voted to adopt a Statement of Proposal to revoke the begging and rough sleeping provisions were: Heidi Hughes, John Robson, Andrew Hollis, Jako Abrie, Tina Slisbury and mayor Tenby Powell.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Those who voted to keep the existing bylaw were: Larry Baldock, Kelvin Clout, Dawn Kiddie, Bill Grainger and Steve Morris.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

live
Bay of Plenty Times

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 08:39 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 06:06 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Bike racks back for Rotorua buses, Tauranga's a month away

02 Jul 11:55 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds
live

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 08:39 PM

Rain started falling at the top of the country before dawn.

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 06:06 PM
Bike racks back for Rotorua buses, Tauranga's a month away

Bike racks back for Rotorua buses, Tauranga's a month away

02 Jul 11:55 AM
NZ e-bike brand shines at Eurobike global showcase

NZ e-bike brand shines at Eurobike global showcase

02 Jul 03:13 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP