The Holy Trinity Avonside carpark, home to the homeless. Photo / RNZ, Nate McKinnon
By Tim Brown of RNZ
A group of homeless people living on a church’s grounds in Christchurch will have nowhere to go if the city council moves against the impromptu encampment, advocates say.
About 10 people call a carpark at Holy Trinity Avonside home.
The Christchurch City Council has issued an abatement notice “requiring the property to cease being used, or allowed to be used, as a campground”.
The council would consider further action if nothing changed by Friday.
But church community workers said the group, who lived in tents, buses and – in one case – a shed, had complex circumstances that led to their living situation. But, most importantly, they had nowhere else to go.
Community worker River Rain said a trust – Te Puna Ora – was being established to take over the work of the church.
“We’re not a campground and we’re very clear on the fact that camping is something you do as a leisure activity - that’s not what’s happening here. We are meeting a need for people who don’t have anywhere else to go.”
The church first allowed freedom campers to use the carpark, but increasingly it was the homeless who were turning up for help and a place to stay.
Rain said he hoped the church – and the trust that would take over its work – could find a “creative solution” with the help of the council.
But those who now called the carpark home said they had few options left.
Will Kenneally had been living at the carpark for about six months.
He had health issues which prevented him from working and about a year ago was attacked.
Kenneally’s head was stomped on, fracturing his skull and breaking his nose and a tooth.
He felt safe staying at the church – the first time he had felt that way in a long time.
“Now I can actually go to sleep and I don’t have to worry about someone pounding on the window at three in the morning trying to hustle me or take things off me or trying to take the van off me,” he said.
The church had also provided the support he needed to heal.
The idea of the council closing the site down was terrifying.
“If you’re cruel, you only hurt your own soul. But if you’re kind, you will heal many souls. That’s how I see it,” Kenneally said.
“Thoughtless words can destroy many hearts, but wisely spoken words will heal many hearts, and they’re going out of their way to be cruel.
“I only have to walk from there to there and I’m in a church – that makes a really big difference... When you have that emotional support, it means a lot more than even having a bed, in my eyes.”
Christina Karaitiana had been living in the carpark for about three months with her partner, who was currently in hospital.
Karaitiana also had health problems, including a pacemaker.
“There’s a lot of people not even helping us, but ever since we’ve been at this Holy Trinity Church, the people here have been really great - supportive. They’ve been really wonderful,” she said.
She feared what would have happened to herself and her partner if they had not had a bus to sleep in over winter.
“Out on the street in the cold,” Karaitiana said, when asked where she would be without Holy Trinity.
“We could have ended up really cold, having pneumonia. We could’ve even died. If it wasn’t for this place, we wouldn’t be here.”
Alastair Linfoot, who would serve as a trustee for Te Puna Ora, said he understood what those staying at the church were going through.
“A year ago I was in a similar position to these guys – living in my car,” he said.
“So it’s relatable – it means a lot to me because I had people help me and people gave me hope and now I’m a fulltime student, doing really well, living in a house and hope for the future. I want to be able to help and pass on that hope through what... the workers here are doing.”
His experience demonstrated how precarious many people’s lives were.
“We’re all just one, might not even be a bad, decision away from being homeless or living in our cars,” Linfoot said.
“It’s really tough out there. We have people living out in tents who work fulltime jobs, families living in cars that can’t survive because of the cost of living. It’s kind of atrocious really.”
One of the concerns raised about high concentrations of homeless people was crime.
But Bryan Gilchrist, another trustee, said the work of the church was dispelling that myth.
“My office overlooks the carpark next to Beverly Park and for so long it was home to the unhoused and to freedom campers and I would witness drug deals, altercations, so much littering. It was mind-boggling. Even when council posted the no camping notice it still occurred, it still transpired,” he said.
“Then these folks came into the picture and offered them a space here and ... it feels like it has changed the landscape for this area and for the better.
“They have provided a community for these folks. A reason to be, a reason to do something, a reason to get up. They provide food, they provide the shelter, they provide that community support that these folks really lack when they are unhoused and that mahi has been terrific to observe.”
Iain MacInnes, another community worker at the church, said they had worked to build relationships with other community service providers so they could help those staying at the site with their physical and mental health, access to employment and, ultimately, housing.
Some who had stayed at the carpark had now found permanent homes, he said.
But for those living at the church at present, it was about building a sense of community and belonging, MacInnes said.
The advocates agreed that homelessness was increasing.
Rain said they were guided by the church’s principles.
“My boss - the vicar - is very motivated by a verse in Matthew that talks about Jesus commanding us to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and care for the sick, and at the core of our work that’s what we felt called to do,” he said.
“At this point we’ve gotten to know the people, we’ve gotten to know the stories and we’ve gotten to know the need. And I don’t see any way that I could turn my back on that.”
A Christchurch City Council spokesperson said an abatement notice had been issued.
“Council has issued an Abatement Notice requiring the property to cease being used, or allowed to be used, as a campground. The compliance date is 5pm on 22 August 2025. If the notice is not complied with, further enforcement action will be considered,” the spokesperson said.
“As the compliance date has not yet been reached, we are unable to comment on the outcome at this stage.
“Staff continue to liaise with community organisations who support the homeless community and currently contract Christchurch City Mission to deliver on-the-street outreach workers.
“Council recognises the need for a citywide strategy, including community providers, to deliver a collective process to address the issue and is in the early stages of planning this.”
- RNZ