Response to begging returns to Plan A
Palmerston North City councillors want to investigate a bylaw solution to a perceived begging problem in the city that was rejected a year ago.
At a council meeting on Monday, a majority of councillors asked staff to reconsider whether an existing bylaw could be rewritten to manage the ‘‘intimidatory behaviour’’ of some beggars.
That was despite Cr Lorna Johnson pointing out that intimidation is already against the law.
And City Future general manager Sheryl Bryant said it was possible a consultant outside council would have to be contracted because staff were already busy reviewing other bylaws that could expire if deadlines were not met.
Chief executive Paddy Clifford could not tell councillors how much it would cost, but said he would let them know.
The prospect of reviewing an existing bylaw was supported as a possible alternative to a new bylaw, which was recommended by the council’s community development committee two weeks ago.
A year ago, council staff recommended not using the Nuisance Bylaw to declare beggars ‘‘nuisances’’ as a way to ban them from the streets.
Cr Karen Naylor said her idea was to give staff greater scope in exploring a solution, either through a new bylaw or an existing one. She said the problem was the intimidatory behaviour of some beggars.
Cr Rachel Bowen supported the plan. ‘‘There is quite a small number of people having a disproportionate effect on our CBD, and obviously we want to do something and be seen to be doing something.’’
The search for an alternative solution comes after trying a social work approach, which saw the MASH Trust working under contract to get to know all of the people begging on city streets and ensure their housing and social needs were being met. The project ended on March 24.
A final report from MASH showed the presence of beggars had diminished, but there was a hard core of about eight people who did not want help from the social workers.
Cr Lew Findlay
"Obviously we want to do something and be seen to be doing something." Rachel Bowen, city councillor
said the remaining problem was about intimidation, rather than begging itself.
He supported exploring the bylaw options, but was annoyed it had become the council’s problem to resolve. ‘‘It’s a Government problem, because they do not fund district health boards enough to look after mental health issues.’’
Manawatu area crime prevention manager Inspector Dave White confirmed that it was an offence to threaten people, assault them, act in a disorderly manner or demand money in a menacing way. ‘‘If people complain, we will investigate, and if there is sufficient evidence, we will prosecute.
‘‘There is no offence for sitting on the footpath asking for money; whether you are a child or a student with or without a ukulele or a person with a hoodie, it makes no difference.’’
White said the most effective way to stop people asking for money was to stop giving it to them.
But a proposal from the city’s Safety Advisory Board to revive a Give Wisely public education campaign had been rejected.
Councillors Johnson, Aleisha Rutherford, Vaughan Dennison, and Tangi Utikere voted against the bylaw proposal.