Whanganui District Council has enforced its freedom camping bylaw for some overstayers at the Anzac Parade while others are homeless due to an affordable housing shortage.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui District Council has enforced its freedom camping bylaw for some overstayers at the Anzac Parade while others are homeless due to an affordable housing shortage.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui's shortage of affordable housing has been identified as the reason for some leniency around Whanganui's freedom camping bylaw.
Whanganui District Council has received complaints and expressions of concern from the community regarding people staying at the Anzac Parade freedom camping site. The council's freedom camping bylaw, adopted last year,has been enforced at Anzac Parade and at other designated freedom camping sites in the district.
However, the council's corporate general manager Stephanie Macdonald-Rose said there had to be some leniency in the bylaw application when people were unable to find affordable housing.
"We have determined that many of the people who have used the Anzac Parade site in recent months are experiencing homelessness," Macdonald-Rose said.
"The housing shortage in Whanganui remains a serious and challenging issue and we are working to help find housing alternatives for these people.
"Unfortunately, there remains a significant waiting list for public housing in Whanganui and a shortage of both emergency housing and specialist supported housing for people with high needs."
Macdonald-Rose said the Government Freedom Camping Act 2011 stated that the Act and related bylaws should not be applied to those experiencing homelessness.
"Following the adoption of the freedom camping bylaw, the council and Safer Whanganui have developed guidelines to ensure people experiencing homelessness are not negatively affected through its enforcement. Our compliance team, who enforce the bylaw, only do so when it is clear that someone is not homeless but in breach of our freedom camping regulations."
The council had taken practical steps to address homelessness at freedom camping sites, including staff making regular visits to all sites through community advocacy and security contracts, Macdonald-Rose said.
"And at the local, regional and national level the council is advocating for appropriate agencies to increase specialist, supported housing for Whanganui. We have connected with all of the housing agencies regarding individuals who are experiencing homelessness and 'camping' in Whanganui to try to identify individual solutions. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix, and we continue to work on this complex issue," she said.
Whanganui still has a chronic shortage of affordable housing, with freedom camping sites being the only option for some who cannot find rental accommodation.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui People's Centre manager Sharon Semple said the local housing shortage had worsened, leaving people with nowhere to go, and motels that provided emergency housing were under pressure.
"It is a nationwide problem that has now become impossible to ignore in Whanganui," Semple said.
"The council is showing compassion by working with agencies and allowing people to stay at camping sites where they have access to community support. Whanganui needs more affordable housing for everyone and a supported living facility for people with complex needs. The situation won't change until those needs are addressed."
Whanganui People's Centre was established in 1999 to support welfare beneficiaries and in recent years housing needs have become the main focus of the agency, which has a contract with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD).
MSD regional commissioner Gloria Campbell said there were limited options for emergency housing in Whanganui at the moment.
"However, supply changes from day to day, so we would encourage anyone in need to talk to us so we can identify available options and how we may be able to assist," Campbell said.
"We do everything we can to prevent people from falling into homelessness by responding early to signs of housing stress."
Demand for emergency housing was a symptom of a wider issue of a lack of affordable housing, she said.
"Across government, there is a major programme of work under way aimed at increasing the supply of public housing and improving housing affordability and supply."
Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga (The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development) and Kāinga Ora are responsible for increasing the supply of affordable and public housing.
