Housing advocates say ditch the begging and rough sleeping bylaw

A total of 372 submissions were received on the proposal to revoke the ban. Photo / Getty Images

Housing advocates say Tauranga should ditch its begging ban and become "a city of kindness" but retailers fear such a move will be bad for business.

Those were some of the opposing views expressed at a hearing yesterday to hear public submissions on a proposal to revoke Tauranga City's council's controversial begging and rough sleeping ban.

A total of 372 submissions were received on the proposal to revoke the ban, which came into force in 2019, with 39 people electing to speak at the hearing before the council's Policy Committee.

Street Kai organiser Tracey Carlton told the hearing that by introducing a bylaw the council took away shelter from the homeless community and failed to replace it with alternative options.

"You pushed them effectively into the shadows," she said. "It was like, out of sight, out of mind and all it did was make them more vulnerable."

Street Kai organiser Tracey Carlton. Photo / File

Carlton wanted the bylaws revoked and for the council and homeless advocates to work together for a more proactive and positive solution.

"This is a new era, a new opportunity to step up .... and have more humane solutions."

Street Kai secretary Pip Brook said the organisation had been working towards delivering a wellness hub for the city that will provide showers, washing facilities, food and a safe retreat.

Brook said the council needed to embrace a kinder approach.

"Why not promote Tauranga as a city of kindness?"

Housing advocate Pip Brook. Photo / File

Beverley Edwards of Under the Stars, a volunteer group dedicated to helping out Tauranga's homeless, encouraged the council to revoke the bylaw.

It takes a community to end homelessness. Let's be a city of kindness and not be a city that puts people outside."

A man, who spoke under the name "Fred", told councillors he had lived on the streets for more than seven months before moving into the Edgecumbe House in Tauranga where he has been for about a year.

Councillor Jako Abrie asked Fred if he was still homeless where would he have liked to sleep that was safe.

"I would sleep in a lighted area near to a camera for safety. If anything is to happen it is going to be caught on film."

However, some retailers argued that the bylaw needed to remain.

Greerton Village Community Association manager Sally Benning. Photo / File

Greerton Village Community Association manager Sally Benning said she had experienced first-hand the damage beggars had caused often demanding money from the community and harassing elderly residents for their prescriptions and standing near ATMs.

The results of these actions were detrimental to many Greerton business owners who were no longer able to leave staff, especially female staff, alone in shops for fear of adverse actions, abuse and refusal to move along.

Benning said things started to change when the bylaw was introduced on April 1 last year with shoppers starting to return to Greerton.

Benning felt Greerton had now returned to a "thriving and vibrant" area once again and did not want the bylaw revoked.

Greerton Village business owner of four years Matthew Manninen said in 2018 begging became a significant problem in the area.

"Over time it did get a bit worse. I don't believe it is right that my wife, myself and my staff have to fear having to come to work each day."

Manninen said the bylaw had made a huge difference to his business and to the Greerton community.

"We had people starting to come back."

Quest Tauranga Central franchise director, Craig McKenzie, said many tourists who stayed at the new apartment hotel on Devonport Rd parked behind the building where some homeless slept.

McKenzie said removing the bylaw without replacing it immediately could lessen the chance of more businesses to return to the Tauranga CBD.

Raewyn Whiteman of The Victims of Bullies Charitable Trust did not agree with the council revoking the bylaw.

"There has never had any problems like this until about four years ago. This is not about begging, this is about opportunists who believe Tauranga is rich and want to
exploit the vulnerable."

Begging ban's long and winding road

Tauranga City Council voted 6-5 to ban begging and rough sleeping within 5m of public entrances to retail or hospitality premises in the Tauranga City, Greerton and Mount Maunganui CBDs on November 20, 2018.

The decision was met with a wave of support from retailers, criticism from homeless advocates and an application for judicial review from Tauranga Housing Advocacy Trust, which was concerned the bylaw was a breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights.

On November 19 last year, the Policy Committee approved the proposal to revoke the begging and rough sleeping provisions in the Street Use and Public Places Bylaw 2018 for community consultation.

Public submissions were sought on the proposal from November 20 to December 20, 2019.