Whangārei District Council under fire as more homeless people set up on Robert St

Some of the tents outside Open Arms. Photo Tania / Whyte

A “tent city” pitched on a street in downtown Whangārei has caused a day centre for the homeless to temporarily close and a council to come under fire.

A small group of homeless people have erected three tents on the grass outside day centre 155 Open Arms on Robert St and tucked another close to the building slightly more concealed by the surrounding plants. They are newcomers when compared to the other three tents outside real estate business Eves across the road.

Open Arms is re-opening today after closing late last week due to health and safety concerns stemming from the activity outside and in a bid to encourage those living in the tents to move.

155 Whare Awhina chief executive Liz Cassidy-Nelson said more closures are a possibility if the tents outside stay put despite staff having asked them to leave in lieu of having the ability to remove them.

A man living in one of the tents told the Advocate he was not from Northland but was living in one of the tents while trying to secure accommodation through Work and Income. He claimed to have nowhere else to go.

He said he would stay put as Open Arms was there to help the homeless and moving would just become someone else’s problem.

Cassidy-Nelson said the “tent city” was unacceptable and she empathised with neighbouring businesses, who have expressed frustration at the situation.

She believed the newcomers were making a statement about the lack of a night shelter at the venue. Open Arms operates solely as day centre where people can shower, charge their phones, receive meals, wash their clothes, receive advocacy support - simply put, a rest and recovery space.

Cassidy-Nelson said there was lots of local and national wisdom around keeping the day centre and night shelter “very separate”.

“That’s because in both cases you’re working with very complex needs and in terms of night shelters, the record of open-close-open-close can be quite high because it’s night time, vulnerability and risks are higher and if they need to shut down, they shut down the space.”

The newcomers have further ignited frustrations at the Whangārei District Council (WDC) felt by some businesses in the area.

Bayleys Northland director Tony Grindle said the concept of caring for the homeless should be central to everybody’s vision for the city but the growing presence of rough sleepers had made “business challenging at times”.

He alleged staff have had to put up with fights, drug use, toileting around the outside of the buildings, dogs barking at them and customers for the past four months. They no longer wanted to come into work and had at times felt unsafe.

Several rough sleepers living on Robert St acknowledged that some homeless behaved poorly. They said homeless people generally fell into the different categories of drinkers, those suffering mental health issues, people who chose to live on the streets to avoid paying rent, and then those who were neither and instead had unfortunate circumstances.

Grindle said the effect on business was one thing but the biggest impact was the confidence in the council, which he described as having been “invisible” when it came to dealing with issues stemmed from homelessness.

Without council input a strategy or resolution couldn’t be achieved, he said.

He suggested the compound at the back of Open Arms and the vacant Old Army Hall next door be used to house the homeless.

Open Arms on Robert St. Photo / Tania Whyte

WDC general manager of planning and development Dominic Kula indicated that solution - as with emergency/transitional housing or shelters - sat with national agencies, especially as the property is understood to be Crown-owned.

He said the council was aware of the increased visibility of homelessness in the central city and the issues that stem from it, and was committed to working alongside government agencies to find sustainable solutions.

But the council has neither the legislative authority nor dedicated funding to address the underlying causes of homelessness, and its authority to address many of the issues associated with homelessness was “very limited”, he said.

“Council is unable to infringe homeless persons or force them to move on under freedom camping legislation, nor does council have any powers to infringe or move persons on under its Public Places Bylaw.”

However, the council has some powers to seize and remove items from public spaces but only if items were causing a genuine obstruction and seizure is reasonable in all the circumstances, Kula said.

Furthermore, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 constrained the council’s power to trespass people from a public place which is unlike trespass from private property and police were often reluctant to enforce trespass at these locations on the council’s behalf, he said.

Kula noted antisocial behaviour and offending such as fighting, damage to property or drug taking are matters that should be reported to police. However, if noise, parking, dog control, refuse, or fouling were to reach a level that constitutes a public nuisance then the council can act in accordance with the Health Act 1956.

Karina Cooper is deputy news director and covers breaking and general news for the Advocate. She also has a special interest in investigations.