Councillor backs new CBD centre for homeless

Friday, 28 February 2025

A Hamilton City councillor is throwing her weight behind a homeless centre in the CBD, which would see funds destined for a Garden Place playground redirected for the project.

Anna Casey-Cox says the centre would be a “more supportive” option to try and sort out anti-social behaviour in the CBD than the “enforcement” approach.

The new centre could see funding from a proposed playground, part of a small redevelopment plan for Garden Place, be redirected toward a centre for the homeless.

Meanwhile, councillor Ewan Wilson said he would support “some” of the estimated $280,000 budget being used to engage a “private provider” to put forward a proposal for a community centre.

He said it would be a “waste” to build a new playground until “issues with homelessness” were mitigated.

The playground is one of three components in a proposed “small” redevelopment of Garden Place. The other two components include fibre-glass figures in the fountain for children to sit and play on, and a small garden costing $40,000, both of which Wilson said he was supportive of.

Casey Cox said the timing was not great for a playground to be built in Garden Place, and that it “…might be primarily used by that [homeless] community”.

She said the homeless centre would provide a place for “homeless whānau” to go during the day, and would help fill “huge gaps” in addiction support.

Garden Place has been at the centre of concerns from CBD businesses and councillors who say the CBD has been “taken over”, and anti-social behaviour was making people feel unsafe.

Casey-Cox said homeless people have nowhere to go during the day, and the centre would provide “…a place for them to go … if they wanted to”.

She said council already spent money on similar projects around the city, and spending it on the CBD centre would not be “out of line” with what council supported already.

“We just don’t have anything like it in the centre of the city.”

With Te Whare Korowai shelter providing accommodation, The Serve providing food, and other services already being located in the CBD, it made sense to build the centre there too, she said.

The use of the Garden Place funds would be discussed at a council briefing in March, but Casey-Cox said she’s “particularly interested” and supportive of the centre idea alongside a number of councillors.

Joanne Turner, chief executive of Te Whare Korowai Trust, said the centre would be a “Waikato approach” to saying no to homelessness.

She’s been “perturbed” by fatalistic comments from politicians that homelessness is “just something that happens” in big cities.

“If we are able to embark on this it would provide a new level of care and hope for Hamilton,” Turner said.

Turner has put together a proposal for the centre, which would be called Te Rito Awhi, or the heart of the flax, in the hopes of getting backing for the project, and said while she’s “excited”, it’s still “very early days”.

She’s hopeful that with help from funders they will be able to secure the lease for the former Ministry for Social Development building next-door to the night shelter, which offers emergency overnight accommodation.

The hope is that it will be a “one-stop shop”, providing both in-house services and working with external providers to offer support and services that cater “holistically” to people in need of housing, addiction and mental health support.

The focus of the services would be on providing connection and meaning for people through incorporating things like art, carving and physical activity.

Turner said the opposite of addiction was connection, and they’re trying to “combat disconnection with connection”.

“We’re hoping to achieve something better for people,” said Turner.