Violence around homeless motels ‘out the gate’
Tuesday, 12 September 2023
Lots of noise, lots of police sirens and “violence every now and again”.
That’s the daily reality for Hamilton residents who live in close proximity to the motels used as emergency accommodation on Ulster St and Te Rapa Rd - locations that saw an explosion in police callouts.
The Waikato Times reported on the more than 400% spike in call outs after an Official Information Act request revealed the frequency police were called to five motels in 2016, before their use as emergency accommodation, then the numbers for 2020 and 2022.
The data related to callouts to the Microtel, Zeta Motel and Sails Motor Inn on Ulster St, and the Ascot Motor Lodge and the Te Rapa Motor Inn, both on Te Rapa Rd.
In 2016 there were just 40 callouts to the five motels, a figure that soared to 179 in 2020 - a 347.5% increase.
The 2022 data revealed 206 callouts, a 415% spike on the 2016 figure.
One resident close to Ulster St described “a lot of noise, violence every now and then, a lot of sirens”.
Like many the Waikato Times spoke to, the woman declined to provide her name citing safety fears.
One nearby resident who did consent to being named, Nicole Te-Maro, said anti-social behaviour from the nearby motels “spews out here all the time”.
“The violence is out the gate.”
She said she had one of her windows smashed by a woman she believed was intoxicated - and with children.
“That was drugs related,” she said.
She said the woman appeared to be arguing with someone over the phone before she “started punching the cars”.
She said the woman, who was “frothing at the mouth” took exception when she confronted her and smashed one of her property’s windows.
She said the anti-social behaviour, which she said included noise at all hours, abandoned shopping trolleys, litter and violence, had been ongoing since she moved in in January 2021.
“It’s pretty bad,” she said.
“No thought for us who pay rent.”
A resident close to the motels shared similar experiences.
Miles Moodie told the Waikato Times “there’s always police going up and down the road”.
He said he is also often visited by police.
“A couple of knocks on the door from police, [asking] if I’d seen so and so.”