By Nick James of RNZ
It’s the middle of winter on the Petone foreshore, and people are sleeping in their cars. One social service worker says the issue of homelessness is “everywhere” in the city, and even people on regular pay cheques are among those sleeping rough. Nick James reports.
It’s a freezing winter’s night on the Petone foreshore, bone-chilling southerly winds whip up whitecaps on Wellington harbour.
In car parks next to the beach several people are asleep in vehicles, or getting ready to.
Lower Hutt vinyl layer Dylan Holdaway, 35, said he had been sleeping in his silver Toyota Wish for the past five months.
He told RNZ that living this way had led to him losing 25kg and dealing with several infections.
“I’m eating literally tinned chicken,” he said.
“You know, a man goes and does a hard day’s work, he should be able to have a steak. I ain’t eaten no steak in five months.
“It starts running your body down because you can’t get good nutrients into you, then you start getting sick, then you start missing days at work.”
He worked 30 hours a week, and said living in his car made it hard to maintain his appearance on the job.
“It is just further and further challenges compiling upon themselves but I am the sort of person who, when life comes along [and] lays the wero at your feet, you pick it up, you find ways to overcome these things.”
Holdaway said there was a growing number of people in a similar position, and that there was “a community starting to form” of people sleeping rough.
Another man RNZ met that night but spoke to later was Wayne.
He parks his campervan on the Petone foreshore three to four nights a week while he works fulltime transporting cars.
Wayne said he lived in the campervan so he could save to support his mother and daughter better than if he was renting a home.
Paying for a rental may cut some of the money he could provide for his mum to give her a good life, he said.
Wayne knew of 10 people in the Wellington region who were sleeping in vehicles.
“But there is probably a lot more that I don’t know about out there.”
Tākiri Mai te Ata Trust was funded by Hutt City Council and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for a range of homeless support programmes.
That included work to help those who risked losing their tenancies, help for homeless people to access social services, and funding to help families into permanent housing.
The trust’s manager Lynda Ryan told RNZ homelessness wasn’t confined to the Petone foreshore.
“It’s in people’s driveways, it’s in people’s garages, it’s right along the riverbanks, under the bridges, it’s everywhere.
“Petone foreshore is one of the areas where whānau are staying. Sadly nowadays if you have got a car, it is more shelter than some have got.”
Ryan said Holdaway’s situation was not surprising, nor unique.
“We have supported over the years a number of people working fulltime who are having to live in vehicles.”
She said demand for her trust’s services was the highest it had been since it started in 2019.
“I’m concerned for the people in our community, and I’m concerned for the people providing the services because there is a level of burnout that’s happening.”
The Government’s policy of stricter access to emergency housing had contributed to more homeless people accessing their service, she said.
Housing Minister and local MP Chris Bishop told RNZ it was upsetting to hear of anyone who was sleeping in their car.
“We know homelessness is a complex problem New Zealand has been grappling with for decades including in the Hutt.”
Bishop said he was committed to helping those sleeping rough and the Government would have more to say on the issue “very soon”.
“We want to reassure people if you are in genuine housing need there will always be supports available.”
He rejected the idea that the Government’s policy of stricter access to emergency housing was linked to an increase in rough sleepers.
“That is not what the official advice says.”
In a statement, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said based on reports from providers and councils, the number of people who were homeless in the Wellington region had increased.
The ministry’s latest Homelessness Insights Report found that while it could not quantify the growth of homelessness around the country, the information it did have pointed to an increase in the problem.
Back on the freezing cold Petone foreshore, Holdaway hoped by the end of the year he may be able to rent a home.
Holdaway said the housing that was available for someone in his price range was poor.
“That’s not good enough, we are not doing enough to help the Kiwis.”
– RNZ