Editorial: City must face up to its homeless

THINGS are looking good for Tauranga in 2012. An optimistic business outlook, predicted job boom and a port that has the potential to be the major gateway of Australasia, Tauranga can become a city to rival Auckland and Wellington in the next decade.

As Tauranga explodes as a city, other challenges arise - one being its homeless problem, which is fermenting into something that can't be ignored. Although the number of men estimated to be sleeping rough in the city is relatively low at 30, there are complaints of littering, crime, and harassment for food and money.

So far, attempts by Tauranga City Council and police to solve the problem with liquor bans and trespass notices only served to move the transients from one park to another.

Tauranga is one of the few New Zealand cities that doesn't have a night shelter for the homeless. Yet John Cousins' report this week that a Tauranga night shelter is closer to reality has met with opposition from some residents.

It's a money issue. The council has earmarked $118,000 for the project from a bequest trust fund administered by the council, and it has been asked to provide a suitable building at a peppercorn rental. Before the council opens its purse, the organisation driving the shelter, the Tauranga Moana Night Shelter Trust, needs to prove it has done its homework. The trust has already spent $20,000 on a feasibility study.

Some question why the capital injection has fallen on the council-administered Stewart Trust. The fund was dedicated to alleviating poverty. It could be argued that there are more worthy recipients for precious poverty-relief dollars. The local iwi could be called upon for financial assistance or land.

Something must be done about the homeless. From a benevolent perspective, homelessness is a human rights issue in which everyone deserves shelter. Even from a less charitable viewpoint, investing to solve homelessness makes sense given the costs of not doing so - the homeless can generate court costs, police time and resources, hospital and medical bills.

Council involvement in night shelters is the norm in other cities. Councils must seek the best for all their citizens - including the homeless.

But cynics argue that the homeless made lifestyle choices that led to their vagrant status. It is also hard to understand the extent of homelessness in New Zealand when we have one of the most expansive and generous benefit systems in the world.

Residents also fear that a shelter might attract more homeless to the city.

If the shelter is purely going to be a doss house, these objections are understandable.

It is not the responsibility of the ratepayer, council, or indeed the Government, to facilitate a poor lifestyle choice.

Moreover, it doesn't solve the problem - the police say that a night in the cells, or even prison, is not a deterrent for the homeless as it simply provides free short-term accommodation and meals.

What is promising is the trust claims the Tauranga shelter will also offer wrap-around services, including all-important treatment for addictions or mental health.

If a significant number of the homeless choose to take advantage of this treatment, then all the investment will pay off.

Solving homelessness has to be more than providing a bed for the night.

The underlying issues of homelessness need to be addressed. It is more costly than a mattress - but also more worthwhile.