Stories flood in about problem begging in Greerton

Members of the community have taken to social media to share their own experiences with beggars. Photo / Getty

Stories have flooded in following reports of "aggressive" and "intimidating" begging in Greerton.

But not everyone is convinced, with one local man saying he has never witnessed intimidating behaviour in the Tauranga suburb and that it is a matter of perception.

Yesterday the Bay of Plenty Times reported that an escalation in problem begging had been noticed in Greerton by residents, retailers, a city councillor and a charity worker who helped feed the homeless.

One resident told the newspaper someone was organising a group of beggars in Greerton and she had seen members of the group "leaning over a man in a wheelchair, pressuring him" on Tuesday morning.

Since the story was published, people in the community have taken to social media to share their own experiences with beggars.

One woman said she spent "quite a bit of my hard-earned money" on groceries for one man, only to later see him split it with people in a car.

"And then they swapped over who was sitting with the notice in the street. That was me stung and [it] won't happen again."

Another woman said she had a similar experience with a lady sitting with a sign stating she was homeless.

"I was waiting for someone in my car and saw a car (very flash car) pull up and she ran down to it, jumped in and was talking and laughing, her personality changed from a very sad, down-and-out homeless person to someone who didn't have a care in the world. Shame on them."

Some people expressed their concern about the impact the begging was having on genuine homeless and people in need in Tauranga.

"Very sad because this group are making it difficult for the really homeless people around," one lady said.

However, another woman disagreed with some of the comments and observations being made.

"When you're homeless you really are. You make it sound like these guys dress as vagrants just to beg and then go off home, how naive."

Kevin England, who lived in Greerton and who helped feed the homeless in central Tauranga, said he did not think the begging issue in Greerton was any different than other areas of Tauranga Moana.

"Perhaps the locale of the issue is what makes it more evident and more prevalent as an issue. Greerton is a village environment and as such, things stand out a lot more."

He said he had never witnessed intimidating behaviour in Greerton "although I can understand how sometimes things can be perceived".

"I do not think there has been an increase in begging as such. I think it has remained the same. There are always different faces in our community from time to time, whether they are begging or perhaps just seeking help from community support agencies based in Greerton."

England said a lot of the homeless people knew each other, so they would stop and talk to each other.

"They themselves are a community, within our community."

He said the begging debate was having a negative impact on the city's genuine needy, who were being tarnished with the same brush "if this is really the case in Greerton".

England said it needed to be dealt with as a community issue, "by interested parties in the community looking at it from a solution-based approach, rather than a governance or authoritarian fix".

"They are already here in our community, we should be embracing them as part of our much wider community."