Pensioners out in the cold
The city of Hamilton last December published its Housing and Homelessness Action Plan, a 10-year plan ‘‘to make sure that everyone in Hamilton has a home’’. The report describes housing as a fundamental human need and the foundation for the economic, social and physical wellbeing of the city’s residents. It highlights a quote from a participant in a community roundtable: ‘‘Home is a place you choose, not somewhere you are forced to stay out of necessity’’.
Alas, this is not our Hamilton. It is Ottawa’s Hamilton. Some senior citizens in our Hamilton are fretful and apprehensive about their future after a nine-to-three majority of city councillors voted to adopt a proposal which recommended selling the council’s entire pensioner housing stock. Seventeen pensioner complexes will be offered for sale, first to social housing providers and then – if not all the property is sold – on the open market. The meeting was held in The Link Community Centre in Te Aroha St as part of a council initiative to take democracy to the community. This is commendable. But if offered a choice between democracy and assurances about their future wellbeing, elderly pensioners most likely would opt for the latter. Many have vowed their determination to fight the proposals.
Hamilton Grey Power president Roger Hennebry argued there was a better business case for selling Waikato Stadium, the Claudelands Event Centre and Innovation Park ‘‘which are being propped up by tens of millions of dollars every year’’. Mayor Julie Hardaker countered by drawing attention to central government policies. According to council advice, the Key Government has made clear ‘‘it is not councils’ role to own or manage social housing’’. But governments can be changed and other parties are promoting different policies on the provision of housing to pensioners. Furthermore, not all councils are selling their pensioner properties. The Far North District Council, for example, offers units in 12 complexes with an emphasis on tenants over the age of 60 on a benefit. The Hamilton City Council (the Waikato one) posted a disquietingly terse statement on its website after last week’s vote. Elderly people can only hope their interests are given more sympathetic consideration during the public consultations than the blunt announcement implies.