Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. Photo: Louis Collins
Residents, business-owners and social agencies are calling on government ministers to walk the streets of a Wellington suburb affected by a rise in homelessness and antisocial behaviour.
The open letter, signed by 35 people, calls on Housing Minister Chris Bishop, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka and Wellington City Council representatives to visit Newtown and work with the community on solutions.
Community leaders and residents in the suburb have told RNZ the situation on the streets is reaching desperate levels.
The letter also said social services in the suburb were stretched to the brink, calling on greater investment in wraparound support services, accelerated housing solutions, and developing a cross-agency response to an increase in rough sleepers, drug-taking and mental health needs.
"Right now demand is outpacing resources available, and our local support services, while dedicated and experienced, are stretched thin."
Salvation Army Newtown Captain Andrew Wilson said the community was expressing a growing concern about safety in public areas.
"There is a level of seriousness behind this. Even after we submitted this open letter, there was another assault on the main street of Newtown.
"Honestly, I don't think it is too much of a stretch of the imagination to believe that it's not too long in Newtown's future before something even worse happens if nothing is actively done to both support our street community, but also find the long-term solutions for housing and mental health support."
Rongotai MP Julie-Anne Genter said residents had been telling her the environment had been deteriorating in the past year, and ministers needed to see the challenges first hand.
"I think first that ministers Potaka and Bishop should come walk the streets, meet with the community, so that they can see this is a real problem that needs addressing.
"It is harder to make excuses and rely on big-picture statistics when you are right there in the heart of the community seeing the human impact of people not being able to access housing."
Genter said there were about 200 social housing units in the Rongotai electorate which have been cancelled across a number of projects.
"There is potentially a solution right there, if the Government were to contract new social housing in Newtown, stuff could get built in the next year. Of course, that's not going to solve the immediate problem of homelessness on the streets."
Council 'urgently' looking at extending safety plan
Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka did not commit to visting the suburb.
"I regularly visit and engage with support services across the country and will continue to do so. I met recently with the Downtown Community Ministry in Wellington," Potaka said.
He said homelessness was a complex problem New Zealand had been "grappling with for decades", including in recent reports about Newtown.
He said there is 159 social housing places due for the wider Wellington region, to be delivered by June 2027.
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau said the council had made a significant investment in the City Safety Plan in the inner-city this year, and councillors had now asked officers to urgently provide advice on what initiatives could be expanded to support Newtown.
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
"I expect to get that advice next week."
She said tackling the highlighted issues required a collaborative approach with central government and local government working with communities.
The housing ministers have been approached for comment.
Potaka previously told RNZ homelessness was a complex problem New Zealand had been "grappling with for decades".
"Homelessness is not just about housing. The government is backing actual support services with more than $500 million a year, while fixing the broken housing system to deliver the right homes, in the right places, with the right support."
He said ministers had recently requested recommendations from agencies about how existing programmes and services, including transitional housing, could be better applied.
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