Growing tension between New Plymouth mayor and MSD boss over rough sleepers revealed

Documents released under the Official Information Act (OIA) reveal growing tension between the mayor of New Plymouth and the regional boss of the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) over the city's struggles with rough sleepers.

An exchange between Neil Holdom and regional public service commissioner, Gloria Campbell, beginning in late 2022, culminates in a letter and series of emails in 2024 where the mayor pleads for MSD to show leadership on the issue.

In the 9 April 2024 letter, Holdom estimated there were more than 200 rough sleepers in the district, but that the actual number could be much higher.

"Winter approaching makes urgent action necessary, and I urge you to advocate with MSD to deliver funding for emergency shelters and interim accommodation, as well as contracting local support providers to navigate health, welfare and community support systems to address mental health, addiction and other issues."

Holdom said while local initiatives such as funding out-reach services were commendable they were insufficient without central government support.

"Investing in social work and homeless shelters will save costs on policing, courts and welfare in the long run.

"I'm concerned about the lack of leadership from central government on this issue, which impacts taxpayers and the well-being of our homeless population."

Holdom asked for Campbell to meet with regional leaders to discuss a way forward.

On 12 July 2024, following that meeting, the mayor forwarded emails from businesses concerned about rough sleepers and asked again what central government could do.

The businesses' emails were considered outside the scope of the OIA and redacted.

Campbell replied five days later.

She said it was "important to remember that this homeless issue does not fall solely into the Ministry of Social Development's domain".

"While we are eager to contribute, the path to a solution is best obtained through collaborative means."

Campbell said as an initial step police and MSD were considering visiting retailers to understand their concerns and would welcome a council representative joining them.

Holdom took about and hour to consider his response.

"My takeaway from our meeting was that you were very clear in what you wouldn't do and continually referred to council being the most appropriate agency to lead what is essentially a combination of welfare, housing and mental health issues.

"From my perspective it was very clear your focus in that meeting was not to take any material ownership of these issues which ultimately fall primarily in central governments areas of responsibility - health, welfare, housing."

By this time New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) had set aside $120,000 to fund a social worker working directly with rough sleepers and committed $12 million over three years to increase its affordable housing stock.

In his email, Holdom said from his perspective government represented 92 percent of taxation with council accounting for just 8 percent.

"My objective in the meeting we called was to get you to commit to investing time and resources into solutions to help these people and address the concerns of the business owners and employees and the properties owners who pay us and are experiencing material adverse outcomes from the growth of homelessness."

In terms of a follow up hui, Holdom was less than enthusiastic.

"So in terms of a meeting - I don't want a repeat of the last meeting - that would be pointless.

"We want to see an agenda and an indication you have identified people and/or resources to help find solutions.

"If you have made no progress with any resources on these matters at your end I'm not sure what the point of meeting would be."

Where it all began

The exchange between Holdom and Campbell began in 2022 with an email where the mayor asked the regional commissioner to "advise [on] the number of people in emergency housing in New Plymouth and Taranaki" and to organise for a quarterly update to be emailed to the Taranaki Mayoral Forum.

Campbell replied with a lengthy outline of government housing policy and provided a link to regular MSD reporting on emergency housing - "noting that the MSD region of Taranaki also includes territorial authorities in King Country and Whanganui".

In September 2023 Holdom and Campbell met and in a follow up email the regional commissioner requested a regular get together with the Taranaki Mayoral Forum and asked the mayor about progress finding a new home for the Taranaki Men's Shelter which was about to close.

"In recent meetings with [shelter chairperson] Peter Coles, he is adamant that the NPDC will be funding a permanent property for the Taranaki Men's Shelter to use once they have the appropriate social service status."

In his reply Holdom set the tone for further communications, pushing back on the implication council would be funding a solution for the New Plymouth-based men's shelter.

"From council's perspective we have been disappointed with the Public Service response to this growing need in our community and your constantly referring to needs outside of our region being more significant and the lack of visibility of any Public Sector led initiative to address this issue in New Plymouth."

In a statement to RNZ, Gloria Campbell said she appreciated Holdom's advocacy for New Plymouth.

She said her role was to bring the various parts of government together to discuss what communities needed and coordinate resources.

"We work with the district council, local police, health, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (the lead agency for responding to homelessness), and other government and community agencies to help people facing homelessness find somewhere to stay."

Campbell said planning and funding of housing support was delivered across multiple agencies.

"When there are different perspectives on what to do or how to do it, it can take time to work through this - but we all want the same thing."

MSD's role was to provide financial support to meet the cost of short-term accommodation for people who would otherwise be homeless, while people search for more permanent housing.

"We also expect people to do their part, by being willing to engage with us, and willing to search for more sustainable housing."

Campbell was not able to say how much MSD had committed to funding a solution to the roughsleeper issue in New Plymouth without know what specific services were being referred to.

"At MSD, we use the funding we've been allocated by government to support people with their housing needs in many different ways.

"Through Budget 2024, the government invested $83.477 million with MSD to help people with emergency housing support services, including housing navigation and brokerage services, and ready to rent courses, so that we can continue to support people with an unmet housing need into suitable accommodation.

Last week, the Taranaki Daily News reported that the YMCA had put forward a potential solution for New Plymouth's rough sleeper issue.

It told a council workshop it had received $90,000 from the Toi Foundation for phase one of a facility where rough sleepers would be able to shower, do laundry and have a cooked meal.

Phase two would be to build a overnight shelter with the third phase a multi-agency approach to finding rough sleepers a permanent home.

Council would decide on 18 February whether to use up to $550,000 from its Housing Reserve Fund to partially fund the project and its operating expenditure over the next few years.

The YMCA wanted the government to contribute to finding a solution for rough sleepers echoing Holdom's previous call for more help.

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