Ministry stops sending emergency housing clients to three 'grotty' Lower Hutt motels
Sunday, 30 August 2020
Cockroaches, mould and rotting food left by previous guests: Those are the tales from an emergency housing client who says his four-month stay at Lower Hutt’s Midway Pacifica Lodge was “the most unpleasant experience of my life”.
The motel is one of three accommodation providers in the area the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) has stopped using after clients were found to be living in substandard conditions.
The client, Michael (who did not want to provide his surname), said there were stains on the bedding and foul odours when he moved into the motel at the beginning of the year. Things never improved.
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For the first two weeks of his stay, Michael, who has health problems, had nowhere to keep his medicine, because the fridge in his unit was broken.
When a replacement arrived, he was made to shift it himself, with the broken unit remaining outside his room until he left just after lockdown, he said.
His room also lacked a smoke alarm and shower curtain, and was unserviced the entire time he was there, despite complaints to the motel’s management.
“It was s… it was grotty.”
MSD regional commissioner Gagau Annandale-Stone said the Midway Pacifica Lodge, along with the Du Pont Motel and Settlers Motor Lodge, were inspected following complaints. The three motels are all located along Hutt Rd and operate under a shared management team.
“We found several issues of concern about the standard of accommodation provided, and repair work to be done.”
Annandale-Stone said the ministry expected its clients to receive the same level of service as regular motel guests.
Clients would not be placed in the motels until the matters were addressed, she said.
Clients at the motels had been given the option to shift.
A resident of Riddlers Crescent, which runs behind the Midway Pacifica Lodge, said that in the past 12 months, he and neighbours had noticed an increasing number of police callouts to the motel. Residents felt intimidated by patched gang members who frequented the address and surrounding area, he said.
He felt emergency housing clients were let down by motel management who did not appear to be looking after the property. The poor conditions did not encourage people to look after the place.
Clients and their associates has begun dumping rubbish on the street which attracted vermin. Appeals to the motel’s management had fallen on deaf ears, he said.
Management at the motels were approached for comment.
Hutt South MP Chris Bishop helped Michael shift to a new motel, and also worked with nearby residents. He was “very unimpressed” with the conditions at the lodge.
Bishop commended the ministry for its actions but said New Zealanders should not be forced to live in motels.
“We have got to do better for residents and the people in emergency housing.”
In the June quarter, spending on emergency housing grants reached an all-time high in Lower Hutt, peaking at $2.62 million. Nationally, $79.3m was spent on emergency housing in the same period.