That was the headline for a feature article on page 3 of the NZ Herald today – on 20 June. The following is TRM’s (Tongariro River Motel) response.
When the covid restrictions hit the tourist industry this was an option that had to be considered to survive. TRM’s survival strategy for the last two years has been to lower room rates up to 20% to try to maintain an occupancy level to remain viable. Now SWMBO has read that another much larger motel in Hamilton earned $16.2 million in grants between 2017 and 2022. The owners have 13 motel properties which in total made $60 million. When other motels are exploiting the “Emergency Housing” demand with greatly increased room rates, how do I justify TRM’s bleak survival policy to SWMBO?
TRM had been approached to register for Emergency Housing by WINZ or MSD (Ministry of Social Welfare). We understood their interest as this is probably the only motel locally that could offer five large two-bedroom units sleeping up to six – ideal for large families. After full consideration of the horror stories heard of from other motels, TRM declined and followed the examples from other motels to hang a sign outside reception advising “NO WINZ CLIENTS” – to send MSD clients elsewhere.
The following is a repeat of TRM’s blog on March 23, 2022.
Motel closing in Turangi?
Since TRM commented in a blog on how sad it is to see another motel closing to tourists in Turangi, SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed is the Manager of everything She can see in Turangi) has been pestered with questions from residents and inmates – which one? There are nine motels in Turangi plus many other back-packers and converted residential accommodations waiting and hoping for the tourists to return… Their fear and the threat was that a motel might be converted for “emergency housing”? We can now confirm that is not the case. We are advised the units at Settlers Motel will be converted to rental arrangements instead. Whew!
The local fear was that it would become restricted for use only by Government as “Emergency” housing. Many local residents, particularly those living close by were naturally very upset at this. Their concerns are justified too. The recent problems with a similar motel in Taupo illustrate what happens when “Gang” members take over.
Basic financial economics understandably support the use of motels as a cheap way or as a quick fix for Government to provide emergency housing. In other larger cities, Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, etc. the Government have paid $Millions for many motels. The government has spent almost $16.5 million over the past four years buying motels since converted into emergency housing. Everyone can relate to that.
They (local residents nearby) could be accused of suffering from the “NIMBY” (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome. Their concerns are justified. That is part of the reason why TRM will not accommodate guests referred from WINZ or MSD (Ministry of Social Development). TRM have more respect for our friends and neighbours than to subject them to suffer the abuse and violence seen in other locations where motels have accepted MSD “Clients”.
Previously TRM’s ancient management has been criticised for not welcoming more homeless guests, particularly as they know we have five larger than usual family units that will sleep up to six and are set up for long-term tenancies by anglers – equipped with full-sized ovens, fridge freezer units, even pantries.
As you might expect, I have (again!) been accused of being culturally insensitive when applications for emergency housing are rejected by our management policy. TRM has also been accused of being anti-iwi and anti-Tuwharetoa, so you have been warned. Oh dear…
Perhaps the easiest way to explain is to provide examples of why TRM does not take bookings for emergency housing. The following are three brief case histories of housing guests referred from WINZ. i.e. TRM applied “three strikes and you’re out” as a management policy.
CASE 1 The local tourist information office (iSite) phoned asking if we had a studio unit for a single lady for one week. It was during a quiet period so we confirmed, reduced the room rate from $115 to $100/night and moved her into a much larger one-bedroom unit that could sleep four. She arrived – no problem. Then the rest of her family arrived and moved in, accompanied by two big aggressive pig dogs. Then they wouldn’t leave. That abused the terms of our deal so we complained, to no avail. I then made an appointment for an interview with WINZ. After being kept waiting for two hours the manager finally agreed to speak to me. She claimed they were not WINZ clients as they had booked through the iSite! I suggested they were still WINZ clients. When I pointed my finger to emphasise my opinion she immediately used that to accuse me of assault! Two guards waiting in anticipation were summoned and I was escorted out. (Quite unbelievable for this old man… for once I was speechless!)
CASE 2 This young man should never have been left on his own anywhere. He had a mental age of about ten. He was provided with a weekly allowance for provisions but it was all spent on beer and chocolates. But his most memorable act was to entertain other inmates with his preaching style. Early every morning he would stand outside his unit addressing the world, loudly shouting about the evils of white colonisation and other such drivel. Even the residents across the road complained. TRM tried to move all adjacent guests to other units beyond his vocal range. We persuaded him to transfer his daily crusade up to the top of the hill above the Tongariro River so the rest of Turangi might benefit from his sermons. Our concerns for his welfare were reported to his case manager or carer, but after a week at TRM he was moved on to another tourist accommodation complex. He desperately needed medical help and really should have been in an intensive care facility.
CASE 3 This “lady” (?) was supposed to be on her own but late most nights received visitors sporting gang patches. Her young extended family also visited most days and their kids ran riot around the adjacent units. SWMBO had to shift other guests who were afraid of their cars being damaged etc. Some regular guests packed up and left. We could not blame them. They have never returned. After the lady left a large number of missing items became obvious, such as my best filleting knives that she had “borrowed”, etc.
Considering the difficult marginal economic conditions for tourist accommodation struggling during the last two years to survive Covid, some might imagine we should try harder to learn to persevere with this new homeless category? But in the interests of our survival, to preserve any remaining sanity and emotional health, to ensure our regular fishy inmates will return, and particularly out of respect to protect residents along Taupahi Road, we canceled any further cooperation with referrals from WINZ. It is a real problem when they would not take any responsibility for their “clients”. In Rotorua we understand they do acknowledge the strong likelihood of internal damage and promise to pay for any repairs etc., but not in Turangi.
So that is our experience in providing “emergency housing”. Following these failures, we realise we may appear to be stereotyping these homeless people, but the same unfortunate pattern is evident in other similar small towns throughout NZ. We simply cannot afford to provide tourist-level accommodation to people who deliberately upset other inmates and threaten to damage our accommodation and facilities and abuse the system at every opportunity. We fear for any residents living close to any motel used as such, but now fortunately for Turangi it is not an issue…
