Whanganui District Council shut down its freedom camping site on Taupō Quay earlier this week. Photo / Mike Tweed
Tent and car numbers at Whanganui freedom camping sites are higher than four months ago but agencies are continuing their efforts to find people homes.
In April, Whanganui District Council housing adviser Jeanette Te Ua-Hausman said there were two tents each at the Anzac Parade and Taupō Quay sites, with three vehicles at Anzac Parade and two at Taupō Quay.
This month, there were 11 tents and seven vehicles at Anzac Parade, and five tents and five vehicles at Taupō Quay.
Residents at Taupō Quay have until April 26 to leave the site after the council shut it due to “property damage, abuse and intimidating behaviour”.
The Whanganui People’s Centre, in partnership with the council, is working with people to find accommodation and get them connected with agencies such as the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and Health NZ Te Whatu Ora.
If someone is on MSD’s housing list, they are allowed to remain living at a freedom camping site.
Centre manager Sharon Semple said homelessness was “not generic to Whanganui”.
“When it’s more visible and there is more press around it, people think ‘the council should just do something about it’.
“Well, the council is doing something about it. If the problem was so easy to fix, we would have done it by now.”
Semple said one factor stopping people being housed was a lack of one-bedroom properties in the region - “availability, affordability and accessibility”.
Despite that, the centre has found accommodation for 35 people so far this year, including a family of five who were homeless for more than two years.
“There was a bit of non-engagement to start with and they became comfortable in that surrounding. They had adapted,” Semple said.
“Now, they are into a property and it’s very much about holding their hand the whole way through - engaging with landlords, getting them to appointments, looking at employment, getting the kids on a course.
“Having a landlord that’s open to people with complex issues is the hardest part, especially with the rental market and lots of people applying [for accommodation].”
Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said the council had a plan in place for homeless people who were looking for a solution.
At the central government level, there was no minister for homelessness and never had been, he said.
“Obviously, MSD oversees part of that but as far as homelessness on the ground goes, there is nothing in the government system that addresses it.
“We can only measure our success on how we treat our most vulnerable and with something like the Taupō Quay facility, we tried to put in an interim arrangement for those that need help.”
That effort at Taupō Quay had now been “pretty much exhausted”, he said.
Whanganui District councillor Kate Joblin, who has the council’s housing and homelessness portfolio, said people without a home often had “very complicated and knotty issues”.
She said social service organisations such as the People’s Centre were experts at working alongside them in a holistic and supportive way.
“Another important strand is increasing the amount and type of housing stock,” Joblin said.
“This is a longer-term solution and council and a number of other local charities are working on this. They will deliver, but these solutions take time.”
Earlier this year, the council revealed a $300 million social housing proposal to provide 1000 new dwellings over the next decade, with a standalone social housing provider established to protect the council from financial liability.
Joblin said there had been suggestions for the short term, such as making smaller pockets of land with cabins available for those sleeping rough or a purpose-built caravan park for people ”finding it hard to maintain traditional tenancies”.
“There are also successful instances where social service agencies rent a house from a community-minded owner and then make it available to individuals that the agency is working with.
“All of these ideas need to be considered and done hand-in-hand with government agencies and local social services.
“They will not work for everyone, or be a panacea for all ills, but it’s important that we have a number of solutions and continue to look forward positively.”
The council employs Armourguard to visit the Anzac Parade, Taupō Quay and Springvale Stadium freedom camping sites every day, at a cost of $1522.11 a month.
A council spokesperson said it did not issue infringement notices to homeless people.
They said two had been issued since April - relating to litter and freedom camping duration - to people the council initially thought were freedom campers.
Whanganui Community House manager Shelley Loader said from her observations, the council was doing everything it could to help the situation.
However, homelessness was “not cured by any stretch of the imagination”.
“A lot people who are homeless have a whole range of issues going on and sometimes are not mentally well enough to help themselves,” Loader said.
“There is always going to be a degree of people falling through the cracks in my opinion, but there are a lot of services offering help - showers, warm clothes, food, that kind of thing.”
Semple said a block of land with half a dozen cabins and intense wraparound support was a potential solution.
“I think Te Whatu Ora needs to be involved in something like that.
“If these people keep getting readmitted to [Whanganui Hospital inpatient unit] Te Awhina, how much is that costing? It would be better to rent a house or have a facility where someone chucks a crockpot on in the morning, makes sure they are taking their medication and gets them involved in groups.
“Hopefully, if someone does that navigation for them, they can graduate into a rental.”
Every person had a story but if they did not engage with services, “how do give that story a better ending?” Semple said.
“Some are poly-substance abusers or alcoholics or have chronic mental health issues.
“Clearly, they are not safe if they are living in tents. That is not a safe living condition.
“Some of them choose that but if they were given the option of going into a place with onsite care, would they not choose that instead?”.
Loader said the community’s attitude about homeless people had changed in recent years, particularly since Covid-19.
“I think people are recognising that not everyone has had the lives and opportunities they’ve had and are being more sympathetic and empathetic to those situations.
“When someone asks for help on a Whanganui Facebook page, yes, there are people giving them crap but there are more wanting to help.”
She said the housing situation needed to be improved.
“It’s difficult for someone with a clean slate to find a place to live so imagine what it’s like if you don’t.”
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.