Ratepayers will fund between $170,000 and $376,000 of unbudgeted expenditure for the operational costs of the temporary homeless support site over the next 12 to 24 months.
The council’s community wellbeing manager Lauren Tamehana said the initiative would support homeless people who were currently using freedom camping sites, while the council and its partners worked on finding another site that was more fit for purpose and better suited to providing wrap-around support.
“The preferred option presented today will provide one site specifically for homeless people. They will be encouraged to move there because of the added benefits - a toilet, a shower, wifi, some onsite support. We would put an office onsite and security at night,” Tamehana said.
“We know that concerns will be heard from any neighbourhood that we put this type of alternative proposed place into. We’ve worked hard on options that will cause the least amount of disruption across the community.”
The council passed a freedom camping bylaw in 2021 restricting the length of time people can camp, fully self-contained, at several council-owned locations throughout Whanganui.
But in making that resolution, councillors agreed the bylaw should not detrimentally affect homeless people, as most of them had nowhere else to go.
The Taupō Quay site will have space for around 12 vehicles.
In her report to the council, Tamehana said the number of homeless people in Whanganui had grown in recent years.
“The causes are highly complex. No simple solution exists locally or nationally. The Anzac Parade freedom camping site has recently become popular with homeless people due to its location and amenities, such as the public toilets and clean water.”
Tamehana said the number of homeless people at the site increased during the Covid-19 lockdowns but had since settled to a core group of around 10 to 12, depending on factors such as weather.
She said the council continued to receive numerous complaints from nearby residents, the wider community and visitors to the city about behaviour at the sites and the general unkempt state of the Anzac Parade site.
“To resolve the situation, council and our partners, including [local iwi] Tūpoho, have considered and reviewed several locations throughout Whanganui. Taupō Quay has been identified as the site that will cause less residential disruption,” Tamehana said.
“The site will require hiring portaloos, portable showers and some level of security and fencing at a cost to council. The Ministry of Social Development [MSD] and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development are being approached for financial assistance; however, this is not guaranteed.”
Tamehana said wraparound support and security would also be provided at Anzac Pde and Springvale Park for those who did not want to move to Taupō Quay.
The council discussed enforcing its freedom camping bylaw at Anzac Parade and Springvale Park. The bylaw allows campers to stay for only four nights.
Tamehana said her preference was encouragement, not enforcement.
Councillor Rob Vinsen said freedom camping facilities were being abused. He suggested there should be a number of conditions of entry and length of stay at the proposed new facility.
Chief executive David Langford said the council was entering new territory and the rules needed to have some flexibility so they could be adapted as the facility developed.
“This is going to be a learning experience for council, proactively managing a homeless facility. The rules are not something we need a resolution on from council,” Langford said.
“The council would be best off allowing officers the flexibility to adapt them as we build experience of running the facility over time.
“There’s a balance to be struck. We don’t want to be draconian in our rule setting, because ultimately we are trying to wrap some care around our homeless people as much as trying to clear the freedom camping sites. Some compassion is required in our rule set, as well as governing anti-social behaviour.”
Langford said there was a potentially long wait for those on the social housing register to be housed.
“Particularly if you are not ticking the criteria for MSD, there isn’t really anywhere else to go,” he said.
“This solution is less than perfect. It is progress, not perfection. But this is better than the status quo because at least we can provide some wraparound services.”
Tamehana said the social housing register in Whanganui was at 400.
“Single people, single males, won’t be anywhere [near] the top of the emergency housing list. One to two years sitting on a housing register is not uncommon.”
Councillor Philipa Baker-Hogan said most councillors said during last year’s election that they wanted to move quickly on a solution to homelessness, but leaving the other freedom camping sites open to the homeless was “muddying the waters”.
“It’s not good enough for the rest of our community and the ratepayers,” Baker-Hogan said.
Councillor Josh Chandulal-Mackay said he was not in favour of a punitive approach to homeless people.
“They’re not prisoners, they’re not cattle, they don’t deserve to be instructed as to where they can go and can’t go. As council, we have an opportunity to provide a safe space for them. I’m proud of us for doing that and really giving weight to our housing strategy, and for supporting our homeless brothers and sisters,” Chandulal-Mackay said.
Deputy mayor Helen Craig said the public had been incredibly tolerant but was “really unhappy”.
“They’re finding their enjoyment of these public spaces is affecting their lifestyles as well. I’d rather the homeless were actively discouraged from freedom camping sites,” Craig said.
“My biggest disappointment is support from government agencies. [Council staff] have formulated the solution, we’re funding it, where are they? I would suggest that we invite the relevant agencies and our MP to the council table to discuss this in public because this is just not good enough.”
Mayor Andrew Tripe said he had spoken to Whanganui MP Steph Lewis, MSD and other agencies to urge the government to step up.
Councillor Charlie Anderson said he was worried about the proposal.
“I have my doubts about whether it will be successful. I worry about staff safety, I worry about ratepayers’ money to fund this when it should be central government,” Anderson said.
Councillor Glenda Brown said everyone deserved to have a place to call home.
“Everyone deserves to feel valued as part of the community and I see this as one option. It is temporary, it will be monitored, it will be reviewed,” Brown said.
Mayor Tripe said the council needed to show compassion and care.
“The overriding feeling for me and all of us - these are human beings. For whatever reason, they’ve found a challenge in life where they don’t have a home. I’ve talked to a number of these people and it’s a complex situation,” Tripe said.
“At the end of the day, we’re here for the community and these people are part of our community.”
Split-decision votes approved setting up the new facility and allowing people to continue living at the Anzac Parade and Springvale Park freedom camping sites if they did not want to move.
The Taupō Quay site is expected to be ready as a homeless support site within the next few weeks.
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