Moved on after 20 years on roadside
After 20 years parked up on a berm in a north Auckland industrial area, a homeless man is getting moved along.
Auckland Council said it was responding to requests from a nearby Silverdale business and the police, concerned about Dallas Carrad’s worsening health. Atlas Concrete manager Steve Taylor said Carrad was partly on the company’s land and it was worried about liability, especially after Carrad had a quadruple heart bypass earlier this year.
‘‘We don’t want to see him gone but it’s for his own benefit, as his health is deteriorating.
‘‘This story could have a very sad ending. He could end up dead in his car. The council needs to administer its rules, so Dallas can be safe.’’
Carrad spent time in a resthome after his bypass but felt it wasn’t for him, as it felt like it was ‘‘a place to go to die’’.
The council wrote to him in March, asking him to move, but didn’t follow up. Now, in past weeks, one of his unwarranted or registered cars was greenstickered. He had the car towed away and replaced it with a fourwheel-drive. The 77-year-old said ‘‘it was just a case of just surviving now’’, and felt Auckland Council staff’s threats amounted to elder abuse, and were causing him immense stress. Carrad’s attachment to the area is strong, as he feeds about five cats at a feeding station next to one of his cars. He has one vehicle to sleep in and one for his possessions. Carrad said he was told to move closer to the nearby Weiti Wharf but he had been harassed by teens in this area before and felt ‘‘threatened and unsafe’’.
Auckland Council team manager of compliance Maz Wilde said Carrad was well known to business staff and owners.
‘‘The berm his cars are parked on is owned by the council and he has been in breach of the public safety and nuisance bylaw for the time he has been parked on the berm.’’ Auckland Council staff had repeatedly approached Carrad with offers of assistance in finding a safer and healthier place to stay. ‘‘He has been given the address of more suitable locations with access to toilets where he is not in breach of the bylaw. Other organisations including the City Mission have also offered accommodation,’’ Wilde said.
Dallas had declined these offers of help: ‘‘He briefly lived in a resthome earlier this year but chose to leave and returned to living in his car.’’
Auckland Council said the primary responsibility for supporting people who were homeless sat with the Ministry for Social Development.
The Auckland regional commissioner for the ministry Mark Goldsmith said Carrad’s wellbeing was its primary concern. ‘‘We’ve been working to support Dallas [Carrad] for some time.’’