Begging in the ’burbs
‘‘It’s private property. Council has little power to come on to private property and do anything.’’ Mayor Andrew King
Outside a suburban shop, men and women take turns rummaging through a bin spilling with rubbish, pulling out food scraps and the odd cigarette butt.
Shoppers give them a wide berth.
Hamilton’s beggars – shunted from the CBD and Five Cross Roads – have flocked to suburban shopping centres instead.
And Dinsdale’s shopping centre has become the new homeless hub, according to locals.
In an attempt to crack down on begging and nuisance behaviour in the CBD, the Hamilton City Council introduced a bylaw in 2014, aimed at ‘‘minimising offensive behaviour in public places’’.
But it has simply sent the problem to untended suburbs, Lynore Peat, who has owned a store at the Dinsdale shopping centre for 18 years, said.
Around 12 regular beggars have begun milling around the shops every day, many of whom she now knows by name.
‘‘All the ones here, they’re not necessarily homeless.’’
Most are harmless, but some are drunk and can be aggressive, Peat said.
Last week, a woman who had been begging outside walked through Peat’s store and into the staff bathroom, where she stayed for 10 minutes.
She even stole their toilet cleaner – possibly to sniff it, Peat said.
Now, the store’s front door stays locked and is only opened for customers.
Mayor Andrew King said he’s been aware of issues in suburban shopping centres since Christmas, as shopkeepers had told council. ‘‘It’s private property,’’ he said. ‘‘Council has little power to come on to private property and do anything.’’
Unlike shopkeepers in the central city, those on private property in a shopping centre were in the position of being able to control who was allowed on their property and who was not, he said.
Council had explained how concerned shopkeepers could trespass people, and told them their body corporate would need to unite to solve the issue.
When asked if a crackdown on central city begging had pushed people to the suburbs, King replied after a long pause.
‘‘I really don’t know the answer to that.’’
But another shopkeeper at the Dinsdale centre, who doesn’t want to be named, said it can be dangerous for staff to ask beggars to leave.
‘‘They get sworn at, they get abused.
‘‘People are starting to bypass the shopping centre.’’
Some days, groups of four or five cluster in front of a single shop with threadbare sleeping bags.
Paul Kelly, 42, isn’t homeless, but for the last year he has spent most days begging for money outside Dinsdale’s Countdown.
He started begging to supplement his benefit money around five years ago, after mental health issues prevented him from working.
‘‘There’s nothing much to do at home,’’ Kelly said. ‘‘I just beg for money.’’
He’ll sit on the concrete with a paper hot-chip cup clanking with coins beside him.
Sometimes, he busks, singing Bob Marley songs – the only songs he’s learnt.
Competition is fierce – plenty of others beg there, Kelly said.
‘‘And it’s pretty much the same people.
‘‘I’m getting sick of doing this . . . It is hard, especially when you get no money.’’
But it can be a good place to beg – shoppers can be generous, especially between Tuesday and Saturday. People are usually broke after the weekend, so, Monday is never a great day.
On a really good day he’ll make $40. Other days it’s $2.
City Safe operations manager Paul Blewman said complaints around people begging or busking in Dinsdale spiked in December, probably doubling from the same period last year.
People asked for change should be polite, Blewman said, but shouldn’t give money, as it’s often spent on drugs or alcohol.
‘‘We see the harm that comes from it.
‘‘They’re not begging because they’re hungry.
‘‘What we see on our CCTV cameras, is often that food is dumped as soon as the person is out of sight.’’
People’s Project wasn’t available for a phone interview but spokeswoman Julie Nelson said the issue in Hamilton is relatively small, with most of the people who regularly beg known to the city’s social services.
Begging and homelessness are complex issues, Nelson said.
‘‘The people we work with are generally vulnerable and need support to overcome some of the major setbacks they have experienced in life.’’
Waikato police area commander Freda Grace said police are aware of an increase in begging around Dinsdale.
‘‘It has been brought to our attention,’’ Grace said. ‘‘We are working with People’s Project and the council.’’
But, overall, there hasn’t been any increase in criminal activity from the same period last year.
Hamilton Christian Nightshelter manager Peter Humphreys said the inner-city bylaw might have ‘‘looked good on paper’’ but has created an exodus into communities unmonitored by cameras and City Safe.
‘‘Everybody’s got a right to be in the inner-city, everybody’s got a right to sit down on a bench, they shouldn’t be followed.
‘‘The people I work with tend not to stay in the inner-city, because they get moved on or somebody will stand next to them for ages. They feel like they’re shadowed, so they just go to the suburbs.’’