Visions of a Helping Hand chief executive Tiny Deane.
Photo: LDR / Andrew Warner / Rotorua Daily Post
Visions of a Helping Hand chief executive Tiny Deane also says a petition calling for action on homelessness and city safety unfairly blames homeless people for the issue, something the petitioner refutes.
Police say they deal with issues with rough sleepers or emergency accommodation users in the same way they deal with any residential issue and continue to work with partner agencies to find solutions to issues related to homelessness.
It comes as a petition launched last week called for urgent action on homelessness and related disorder in the city.
Police need to step up in inner-city violence, not council - advocate
13 Jan, 2021 12:42 AM
6 minutes to read
Visions of a Helping Hand chief executive Tiny Deane. Photo / File
A Rotorua advocate for the homeless says it s the police who need to step up to combat a perceived lack of safety in the city s CBD, not the council.
Visions of a Helping Hand chief executive Tiny Deane also says a petition calling for action on homelessness and city safety unfairly blames homeless people for the issue, something the petitioner refutes.
Police say they deal with issues with rough sleepers or emergency accommodation users in the same way they deal with any residential issue and continue to work with partner agencies to find solutions to issues related to homelessness.
A petition calling for urgent council action on city safety and homelessness in Rotorua has garnered more than 1000 signatures in less than a week.
Meredith Herbert has launched a petition calling for urgent action on homelessness and city safety from the council and Steve Chadwick.
Photo: LDR / Rotorua Daily Post
Petitioner Meredith Herbert has also invited mayor Steve Chadwick to organise or attend a public forum to hear peoples experiences first hand.
Chadwick says she understands the frustration around city safety, saying it was top of mind , but stopped short of committing to a public forum on the issues.
While Visions of a Helping Hand chief executive Tiny Deane said it was a maximum of four rough sleepers who engaged in antisocial or violent behaviour and homeless people were often unfairly blamed for bad behaviour in the city.