When home is a camping ground
Wellington families awaiting social housing are being shuffled into camping grounds while they wait, the city’s deputy mayor says.
The ‘‘sharp increase’’ in Wellingtonians seeking emergency accommodation in camping grounds showed Wellington was not immune to the housing crisis unfolding in Auckland, Justin Lester said.
Camp Elsdon in Porirua was now receiving emergency placements from Citizen’s Advice, Work and Income, Women’s Refuge, the Salvation Army and a range of church groups, because of a shortage of housing stock, he said.
‘‘The situation is dire for some people.’’
A Tawa solo mother and her four children were forced into the camp for two weeks when they got behind on their rent and were evicted.
The family lived at the camping ground while they awaited social housing, said the woman’s friend Jill Day, a Tawa teacher.
‘‘Because her children were older, she wasn’t going to the top of the list. But she’s still responsible for four other people. She was really quite scared.’’
Then the camping ground told the family a school group booking was coming in, so she would have to go quickly, Day said.
‘‘We thought, ‘What are we going to do?’ ’’
She eventually found something privately, in Porirua, but this had created other problems for the family, Day said. Their lives and schooling were in Tawa, and they did not have a car.
‘‘It’s really hard at the moment for many families. Rents are going up and they’re struggling to make ends meet.’’
Staff at Camp Elsdon said they were noticing a bigger need for emergency accommodation, and admitted theirs was not an ideal location.
‘‘We are noticing a larger amount of inquiries [regarding emergency accommodation] but, being a youth camp, we are limited on how much we can help out,’’ said the camp’s assistant manager, who gave his name only as Chris.
‘‘We’re really not set up for younger children.’’
The facility has a lodge – a restored military bunker – with 24 twin rooms, as well as two dormitories and five cabins. Most contain single-sized bunk beds.
Lester understood staff at the camp had to turn away a man who arrived with a baby because of the limitations of their facilities, but Chris said he was not aware of that.
The situation was proof the council needed to roll up its sleeves and get moving on a ‘‘local housing emergency’’, Lester said.
‘‘There is an increasing need for more social housing in Wellington and the city needs to invest in housing alongside central government and community housing providers.’’
Lester is running for mayor of Wellington and has promised to invest in a building programme and partner with housing providers to expand the number of live-to-own dwellings.