Emergency housing bill: Homeless in Rotorua motels costs millions in three months
10 Mar, 2021 05:07 PM
7 minutes to read
More than $5.6 million has been spent on emergency housing and special needs grants in Rotorua during the past three months - a jump of nearly $1 million compared with the previous three months. The spend is being described as out of control by Rotorua MP Todd McClay and will be one of the topics discussed at what is expected to be a heated public meeting on homelessness he is hosting in Rotorua on Monday.
Emergency housing grants fund people with no other housing options to go into places such as motels while special needs grants cover essential one-off spends.
Visions of a Helping Hand chief executive Tiny Deane.
Photo: LDR / Andrew Warner / Rotorua Daily Post
Visions of a Helping Hand chief executive Tiny Deane also says a petition calling for action on homelessness and city safety unfairly blames homeless people for the issue, something the petitioner refutes.
Police say they deal with issues with rough sleepers or emergency accommodation users in the same way they deal with any residential issue and continue to work with partner agencies to find solutions to issues related to homelessness.
It comes as a petition launched last week called for urgent action on homelessness and related disorder in the city.