Begging the question

some beggars had engaged positively, though a small group neither needed nor wanted help, and had actively avoided the social workers.

Evidently there are some individuals in the city who simply beg because they want to – a fact that did not sit well with some councillors and mayor Grant Smith, who proclaimed the beggars to be ‘‘holding the city to ransom’’. Such hyperbolic statements no doubt resonate with opponents of begging in the city, but we need to put the report’s findings into perspective.

Though the number of beggars peaked at 24 during the trial, the figure was down to about 11 by the end of January, with only some of these people part of the ‘‘hardcore’’ begging crew. To have just 11 in a city of more than 80,000 people is hardly a damning indictment on the state of the CBD, nor does it scream for immediate legislation.

Of course we would all prefer to have no-one begging on the streets. Aside from being a bad look, beggars irk some residents and business owners.

There are also concerns about beggars harassing and intimidating members of the public.

Such behaviour is clearly not on, but it is important to remember that offences of this nature are already covered under New Zealand law.

If people are being harassed or intimidated to the point where they feel their safety is at risk, they should contact the police.

But if it is more a matter of feeling annoyed at being asked for money, then surely this can be remedied by saying ‘‘no’’ and walking past. Implementing a begging bylaw could create more issues than it solves due to enforcement costs, the effect it could have on people with health and disability problems and potential Bill of Rights breaches.

The reconsideration of the bylaw feels like an attempt by the council to be seen to be doing something about the ‘‘problem’’.

Such a mindset is especially disappointing when you consider the major discovery from the trial was that we didn’t really have a problem to begin with.