A Rotorua councillor has called the city’s emergency housing crisis “devastating” for both local residents and tourists.
TVNZ’s Sunday last night revealed allegations against Visions of a Helping Hand - set up by former truck driver Tiny Deane - who provide emergency housing in Rotorua.
Visions of a Helping Hand is a large-scale, Government-funded organisation. It operates two "Covid-19 response" motels in Rotorua (where homeless people were first placed during the 2020 lockdown) and one in Taupō.
These two Rotorua motels are among approximately 50 emergency housing motels on the city's Fenton Street.
Vision of Helping Hand's aim - according to its mission statement - is to "provide safe, secure facilities that are adequately staffed to support homeless individuals including women and children to reach their goals and find sustainable and permanent housing".
Since 2017, Visions of a Helping Hand has received nearly $14 million from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and HUD, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars from grants and donations.
It is also contracted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to look after emergency housing clients in eight other motels across the city, as well as clients in transitional houses.
Deane also runs a security company, but this is less well-known. The outfit formerly known as Visions Security changed its name to Tigers Express Security Ltd in May this year and trades as Tiger Security. Tiger Security subcontracts to Visions of a Helping Hand, and its sign-written trucks and guards bedecked in black hoodies can be spotted at Visions-run motels all over Rotorua.
READ MORE: Undercover report: Rotorua's emergency housing crisis exposed
A number of people who were tenants in emergency housing run by Visions of a Helping Hand in Rotorua spoke to Sunday of there experiences.
One woman alleged drugs were being sold at one of the sites. She says her child was accidentally pepper-sprayed by police who were called to the motel.
She and at least one other tenant alleged aggressive behaviour from security guards. It's also alleged gang members are working as security guards.
One tenant said they had to leave the keys to their hotel room with reception each time they left and collect them to get back into their room.
It was alleged security guards entered tenants rooms without prior notice.
One woman said she was in labour when she was told the leave an emergency housing site by security guards.
It was also alleged the standard of the motels was poor.
Deane didn't comment when asked by 1News reporter Kristin Hall to respond to the allegations other than to say Visions of a Helping hand done good work.
Rotorua Lakes councillor Tania Tapsell is worried about the effect the dozens of emergency housing motels is having on the city.
“This has been an absolutely devastating situation for Rotorua,” Tapsell said.
She believes that a large number of people coming to Rotorua from out of town to use emergency motels has gotten out of hand and created a crisis.
“There is no doubt that those who are vulnerable and need a roof over their heads need to be looked after,
“The issue for us is we’ve been trying to do our fair share but we can’t keep taking people from out of town,” Tapsell said.
She said the council tried to get information from the Government about where people are coming from but says a report made inaccurate claims.
“The report said one-third of people were from out of town but they class people as locals if they’ve been in Rotorua for over a month,”
"A lot of these people had another motel as their previous address," she said.
Tapsell told Breakfast that the emergency housing motels started during New Zealand’s first lockdown, back then there were only two motels, according to Sunday that number is now around 50.
She believes that the council has done all they can to fix the situation by trying to get the motels people live in as safe as possible.
However, she says it's now up to the Government to reform emergency housing.
“These people have highly complex needs and putting them in a motel not fit for purpose but actually dangerous building as well,” Tapsell said
Rotorua is a major tourist destination for Kiwis and overseas visitors but the worry of many locals is that the city’s rising crime rates and poor condition of motels will destroy its reputation.
“People are hearing all these negative things about our motels and that reputational damage is serious for Rotorua when one in three jobs are connected to tourism.
“People still need to know that Rotorua is a great place to visit but the damage from the social impacts around these motels has been very concerning for residents,” Tapsell said.
She said that since emergency housing motels were established, Rotorua has seen a significant increase in crime, especially domestic violence.
"One in three calls domestic abuse calls to the police are from Fenton Street," Tapsell said.
Tapsell believes that the increase in crimes around the area has led to a number of residents who have lived in Rotorua for some time to pack up and move homes.
“It's been really devastating seeing the amount of for sale signs pop up in that area where locals feel like they need to move homes because it is no longer safe in their neighbourhood,”
“Why should those, who have worked really hard have been impacted so negatively that they have to leave their family homes,” She said.
'Temporary housing that is not a car'
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was asked about the issue on Breakfast.
She said she has full faith in Housing Minister Megan Woods, and said the Government did not want motels to be long-term places of residence for any New Zealander "but I would much rather that people have temporary housing that is not a garage, that is not a car".
"It was only about five or six years ago we were hearing those stories of kids doing homework by torchlight in the back of a vehicle. So it is not the ideal long-term solution but it provides shelter, it provides safety, and what we need to then do of course is get people into long-term accommodation,” Ardern said.
She sees the increase of Government-built state houses as a positive sign that progress is being made.
"We've actually, as a government, responsible for building 10% of the state houses that New Zealand has, in total. That's how quickly we've moved, over ten thousand houses, but we need to keep going so that in the longer term we don't need those motel contracts in the first place," she said.
Woods told Sunday the Government's built 209 new public houses in Rotorua since 2017, with around 300 currently under construction. She added $85 million has been put through the infrastructure acceleration fund to enable another 3000 houses in the city.
Woods said the Government can't order mixed-use motels to stop the practice, but that "we are starting to see the number of people in those motels, those emergency Special Needs Grants coming down".
She said the Government was working "incredibly closely" with Mayor Steve Chadwick and the council.
The minister says contracted motels, where social service providers are paid to accommodate and look after Rotorua’s homeless, are part of the solution.
The Rotorua security company featured in the Sunday investigation isn't connected in any way to Tiger Security based in Waimauku, Auckland.
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