The Four Canoes Hotel on Fenton St is home to homeless under a Government contract. Photo / File
The Four Canoes Hotel on Fenton St is home to homeless under a Government contract. Photo / File
A Fenton St resident has spoken out about his frustration living next to a hotel with a government contract to look after the homeless - saying the "mothering" needed to stop.
Abby Spurdle lives near the Four Canoes Hotel, which is currently being run by an iwi trust to lookafter about 50 of the city's homeless.
Spurdle said the method wasn't teaching the homeless anything because they still lacked respect for property and those around them.
He said he'd had people loitering outside his home who he believed were high on methamphetamine, others doing drug deals, fighting, screaming and bragging about "robbing" people's homes.
Abby Spurdle says living on Fenton St near the Four Canoes Hotel is becoming more difficult. Photo / Andrew Warner
He's seen a large knife left on his fence, found spit on his windows and seen them dump rubbish from the street over his fence on to his property.
A Te Taumata o Ngāti Whakaue Iho Ake Trust spokesman said they would take Spurdle's concerns seriously and reinforce messages of respect to those they were looking after.
A Ministry of Housing and Urban Development spokesman told the Rotorua Daily Post the trust had been given $1.2 million for the use of Four Canoes Motel on Fenton St between August 10 and March 31 and an additional $655,800 for wraparound support services onsite. There is 24-hour security outside the hotel.
Spurdle said although the security worked well onsite, his concern was for what was happening on the footpath and surrounding areas.
He has lived on Fenton St for about two years and said he had previously been sympathetic towards the homeless problem but not any more.
Abby Spurdle says living on Fenton St near the Four Canoes Hotel is becoming more difficult. Photo / Andrew Warner
"There are daily problems with groups of between two to four people loitering outside my home and roaming up and down the street."
He said there was frequent abuse and threatening behaviour.
"There was one incident where someone was literally bragging about robbing people's homes and another incident where two people were discussing the use of P. During the discussion on P, a male was punching my fence, while his female companion said things like 'see, you can't handle it bro'."
The knife left on Abby Spurdle's fence. Photo / Supplied
Spurdle said a kitchen knife was left on his fence this month. He called police and while on the phone a man threw takeaway rubbish over his fence, with more rubbish left on top of the fence and on the footpath.
"Later I took a photo of the knife and picked up some of the rubbish and threw it back."
"While I can't rule out the possibility of some people being in genuine need, our so-called social housing is supporting many people who have no respect for the law, no respect for their own communities and all they care about is obtaining cigarettes and drugs."
The Four Canoes Hotel on Fenton St is home to homeless under a Government contract. Photo / File
A trust spokesman said the organisation was dealing with people with high, complex needs and "supporting them through change took time and patience".
"We would like to acknowledge the manaakitanga shown by residents who live locally and reinforce that we will continue to take a proactive approach to ensure a safe environment for the people we work with and local residents."
He said they took concerns seriously and would put a plan in place to address them and reinforce messages about respect for others and property.
"I welcome residents to bring their concerns directly to us so we can find resolutions. It's easier to work with these concerns when we have all the information."
The spokesman didn't respond specifically to the Rotorua Daily Post about the claims a security guard abused Spurdle.
Four Canoes Hotel is owned by C.P. Group NZ - Pandey Hotel Corporation, a private family-run business run by multi-millionaire Charles Pandey and his son Prakash Pandey.
Auckland-based Charles Pandey, who founded the company, declined to comment when the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend approached him yesterday.
