"That's nearly 250 people who are no longer homeless."
"We spent a lot of our time and costs travelling between those houses and motels to work with our clients and taking them to and from appointments, including with key agencies.
"This time and cost would far better for everyone to be spent working with these clients."
"We want to move to the next stage of our vision to eliminate homelessness in Tauranga by 2020 by establishing a permanent transitional housing village in the wider Greerton- Merivale area," he said.
Wilson said the aim was to create a "one-stop-shop" homeless village of 15 two and three-bedroom homes, with wraparound services to assist people to transition to permanent accommodation.
The horseshoe shaped village would have a garden, a playground and an administration block where clients are taught skills "we like to call their 'Warrant of Fitness'", he said.
Wilson said it would be called Te Awanui Whare for Whanau - Papakainga Village in honour of late board member Awanui Black.
The village could house up to 30 families at one time which over a year would see more than 100 families assisted from homelessness to permanent accommodation, he said.
Wilson said the vision could be achieved if a piece of land could be found, possibly a
council-owned plot of land within the desired area.
The land could remain council-owned or leased to a designated provider or sold to a third party who becomes the landlord, he said.
Wilson said the Ministry of Social Development already paid $750,000 a year in "guaranteed rents" in relation to Te Tuinga Whanau's current emergency homes.
Wilson said the cost to build the village would be $3m.
"We want to see this happen by 2020 rather than waiting for another three to five years and believe we can end homelessness in Tauranga if people buy into this project."
Wilson's vision included launching a pilot scheme whereby one client at a time could enter a financial arrangement to negotiate to buy their own home, he said
Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless said the council only had the "odd bit" of land available and council reserves would obviously not be appropriate, he said.
"I do think social issues like homelessness and sleeping rough are issues which need to be addressed and funded by central government, not local councils ... we can't fund everything," he said.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council mayor Garry Webber said his council would be happy to assist.
"But in the cold light of day central government has a far greater balance sheet and is also in a far better position legislatively than local councils to support this kind of project."
Webber said the reality is some of the district's ratepayers would have extreme difficulty with his council taking a philanthropic approach by funding emergency housing.
Scott Gallacher, Ministry of Social Development's deputy chief executive, said the ministry was reviewing the material Wilson had provided and wanted to meet with him to better understand the proposal.
"While we're working hard to ensure immediate help is available to those who need it, our ultimate goal is to support people into long-term, sustainable housing," Gallacher said.
"In the Bay of Plenty region, we've signalled that we'll be looking to secure an additional 290 public housing places, including 155 one-bedroom, 85 two-bedroom, 45 three-bedroom and five larger properties", he said.
Accessible Properties chief executive Greg Orchard said the organisation would consider the merits of supporting any housing opportunity that aimed to help more people out of homelessness and into warm, safe and dry homes.
"We are interested to hear more details surrounding this proposal from Te Tuinga Whanau before making further comment," Orchard said.
Ministry of Social Development's Transitional Housing scheme:
Short-term housing for people with an immediate need for up to 12 weeks while support is put in place to transition them into sustainable housing on a long-term basis.
Managed by specialist emergency housing providers who are skilled in providing a range of social and tenancy-related support.
Currently, 44 transitional housing places are available in Tauranga district, providing support for up to 176 households per year.
