Drop in homeless people at camp sites
Council adviser hails work to provide wrap-around support
Whanganui District Council says there has been a “visible reduction” in the number of homeless people at Whanganui freedom camping areas.
The council’s housing adviser Jeanette Te Ua-Hausman said there were six tents at the Anzac Parade site and 16 at Taupō Quay in December last year. That had now decreased to two tents at each, she said.
“Three cars still reside within the site on Taupō Quay and Anzac Pde has reduced from four to two.
“The results really speak for themselves in the work going into this area.”
According to a report from Te UaHausman, that work was a collaborative effort between the council and the Whanganui People’s Centre, an advocacy organisation.
The centre staff visited freedom camping sites 185 times from June to December last year, supporting seven homeless people into social housing and 16 into private rentals. Since then another three people had secured homes, she said.
The council’s compliance team also visited each day during that time, with one infringement issued relating to homelessness.
Four trespassing notices were issued and enforced for antisocial behaviours.
In December 2023, district councillors voted unanimously to scrap its Taupō Quay homeless hub following a report from consultancy firm WSP which recommended reinvesting funds to provide ongoing wrap-around support services.
A report from the People’s Centre said one of the highlights of the past six months was working with a large family that had been living in multiple vehicles.
“We were able to secure the family a home and, thanks to our advocacy
and involvement, they are still successful tenants.
“Further highlights would be the breakthrough when we can work alongside clients to ensure we are assisting in enriching their quality of life.
“It takes time to build a rapport with the clients to obtain the full picture of what has led to homelessness. Then, at this point, a plan to address issues can take place.”
Speaking at a council operations and performance committee, Te UaHausman said the council had received reports of concern from the wider community about public spaces surrounding freedom camping areas.
“They are saying [public spaces] are no longer being used. We’ve had some daily monitoring of activities around our sites over a period of time now. That’s shown that if there is a decrease in the utilising of these spaces, it is very minimal compared to the people who are still using the surrounding amenities, like walkways, parks and facilities.”
Te Ua-Hausman’s report said there were 312 Whanganui applicants on the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) housing register last December, with the People’s Centre making 28 of the applications.
Armourguard Security visits the freedom camping sites three times a day — a total of 807 times since last June.
Councillor Rob Vinsen said that was an expensive process and asked if it would be more cost-effective to have the company respond only to incidents.
Council chief executive David Langford said the current Armourguard visits served a purpose — “keeping the anti-social behaviour under control”.
“We will continue to monitor it, and if there is an opportunity to scale it back and save some costs, absolutely we would follow through on that.”
Vinsen said mixing “the genuine freedom camper with the homeless” was not working and it was damaging to the reputation of the city.
The council’s freedom camping bylaw allows homeless people to live at the sites as long as they are on
MSD’s housing register.
“If you read the reports coming through, especially from the Motor Caravan Association, what members are saying about arriving at Anzac Pde and what they’ve been confronted with, it’s not good news for Whanganui,” Vinsen said.
“They need to have an area separated from the homeless people — the people that are genuinely in need we are seeing down there.”
Councillor Peter Oskam said he was comfortable with the Anzac Pde site because it reminded him Whanganui had a problem and he should be thinking of it.
“The fact it’s there [forces] that opinion on me, and hopefully others,” he said.
“This is a real problem, it‘s very complex and it needs addressing every day. I’m happy to be reminded of that problem — every day.”