Gates set to shut out homeless

LOCKOUT: Chris has been staying at the Clive Square bus stop for five weeks and is not sure where he will go after he is locked out tomorrow. PHOTO/WARREN BUCKLAND

A crackdown on those sleeping at the Clive Square Bus Terminus is an "unfortunate necessity" for Napier's "serious problem".

Earlier this week, Napier City Council (NCC) installed gates on the bus shelters, which have recently become home to an increasing number of people.

From tomorrow, the gates will be locked every night at 10.30pm and unlocked at 7am.

Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said the problem had got worse and so the council had to do something about it. "Ratepayers built a brand new bus shelter as a nice, attractive place for people who are coming and going ... it's been taken over by people who are homeless and it's unacceptable [for them] to stay in the bus shelter."

Mr Dalton said that when he visited the shelter yesterday, it had been an absolute disgrace and "stunk to high heaven".

"There's no way we could let it continue.

"Ratepayers paid for a bus shelter, not a homeless shelter."

Kiri Swannell organises the Napier soup kitchen and is an agent for some from the terminal.

She said all the gates would do was move the issue. "They will end up being outside doorways in the city centre ... they liked the bus stop, because it was warm, dry, and they were visible."

Mr Dalton said the people from the shelter would undoubtedly move somewhere else but said: "What's the alternative?"

An NCC spokesperson said they had advised several agencies and police about the gates before they were installed.

Since Tuesday, the council had received one inquiry about what would happen to those using the shelter. In the same period, NCC had five complaints about the people.

The council was also part of a recently formed cross-sector group aiming to address the wider issue of homelessness, including how to support rough sleepers.

Mr Dalton said: "We're not hard-hearted, we're aware of the plight of these people."

NCC said they had been in contact with the people at the shelter to let them know what was happening.

Some who stayed there said they had other places to go. Sooti, who has lived in the shelter for a month, said he will just come back anyway.

Chris had been staying in the shelter for five weeks, and said he was not sure where he would go when the gates were locked.

"I'll probably stay on Emerson Street. [Police] can't arrest you."

He said he preferred to sleep outside the flash stores, like Hallensteins.