No Grenfell Tower on my watch, says Mayor

Wednesday, 25 July 2018

Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick hit back at claims council had thwarted homeless night shelter work.

Mayor Steve Chadwick has come out swinging on the issue of Rotorua's homeless night shelter, saying no one needs to sleep rough on the streets unless they want to.

Chadwick was speaking at a press conference on Wednesday amid growing controversy around Rotorua's first night shelter, established in June by Tiny Deane of Visions of a Helping Hand Trust.

The sign on door of Rotorua's homeless night shelter warning of a fine if up to $200,000 if sleeping is allowed in the building.

The shelter made national headlines when it was revealed that due to a lack of proper consents, Deane had to shake awake residents every 30 minutes.

Deane had also previously told Stuff council had promised to look the other way while consenting issues were dealt with, a position council has always denied.

Tiny Deane established Visions of a Helping Hand, and Rotorua's first night shelter, amid fears someone would die on the streets.

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'The stories have become quite confused, some of the facts are clearly not accurate,' Chadwick said.

She reiterated council's position that the building could not be used for sleeping in the absence of the proper building consents, and raised the spectre of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy that left 72 people dead in London.

'Not on my watch would I have a Grenfell Tower. . . we would never allow that.'

She also took aim at Deane, saying consent applications and reports promised by Visions had yet to be received by council.

'We've yet to see those reports, that amazes me,' she said.

'It's distressing to me we were deemed to be uncaring.'

Chadwick's concerns about the night shelter building's safety were echoed by council chief executive Geoff Williams.

'We can't just say to people you can use a building for whatever purpose you wish,' he said.

Chadwick also said she had been assured by the Ministry of Social Development that no one in Rotorua needed to be sleeping rough if they didn't want to.

Asked about the proposed $200,000 fine Deane would face if he re-opened the night shelter without the consents, Chadwick said he would be 'welcome to'.

'We never closed it.'

Tiny Deane has been approached for comment but was unable to be reached at the time of writing.