Cabins vacant amid housing crisis

A vacant Whangarei campground should be used for emergency housing, says Whangarei accommodation provider Julie Kevey.
Whangarei has a drastic shortage in emergency accommodation, fuelled by rising house prices and rents, and by the closure of campgrounds such as that at Blue Goose.
The Whangarei District Council bought the campground last year as part of a now stalled visitors' information centre.
But it says the cabins need too much work to bring them up to standard.
The campground had been permanent home to a number of people, but now lies vacant.
Whangarei Mayor Pamela Peters said the council and Housing New Zealand had found the campground an unfeasible solution to emergency housing needs.
"We looked at doing it late last year.
"But the restoration required for that site was quite extensive and would cost quite a lot of money," she said.
But Ms Kevey was not convinced.
The former owner of Kamo Lodge, and present owner of Central Backpackers, she said Whangarei's emergency housing problem had reached crisis point.
But authorities seemed to have put the campground in the "too hard basket".
"Emergency housing is a real issue in Whangarei and it's only going to get worse," she said.
She said 20 Kamo Lodge residents, including six children, were now looking for somewhere new to live after she sold the lodge this month.
The residents could stay in the Ford Ave lodge in the meantime.
She believed the Blue Goose could be brought up to standard if the community got behind the project and lent some practical skills and muscle to the job.
"Everything's going really wonderfully for Whangarei.
"But what's happening is that people at the lower end of the food chain are suffering."
Last month the Northern Advocate reported that desperate Whangarei residents were living in cars because of a drastic shortage in emergency housing.
One Double Five Community House emergency housing co-ordinator Chrissy McLoughlin had recently helped two people needing emergency accommodation - one a pregnant woman with two children.
"She didn't have anywhere to go, which meant sleeping in the car ... Mums can't be sleeping in cars with children," she said.
Mrs McLoughlin said the woman had been evicted from rental accommodation.
She said Kamo Lodge was the latest in a series of places to become unavailable for people to live after Blue Goose closed last year.
She believed the Government and the council should be helping solve the problem.
Whangarei District Council community development manager Agnes Hermans said the council had contributed $7000 for research into Whangarei emergency housing and homelessness, and had a $1000 fund to pay for motel accommodation for urgent cases.
Mrs Peters said the council would soon discuss the future of its Blue Goose properties.