Logo
Prev
search
Print
addthis
Rotate
Help
Next
Our Newspapers
All Pages
Browse Issues
Home
'
Manukau Courier : March 5th 2015
Contents
Front Cover
Thursday, March 5, 2015 Last refuge: A boarding housemanager has called for stricter council rules. Photo: FAIRFAX MEDIA Conditions inspected By JAMES IRELAND THE last refuge of ‘‘fringe dwellers’’ – that’s how one South Auckland boarding house manager describes the service he provides. ‘‘These places are at the bottom of the cliff, the people who live here have already fallen off it.’’ Residents are not equipped with the life skills to live in private accommodation and the Government needs to recognise that ‘‘the hard line it’s taking with getting beneficiaries into work’’ isn’t always practical, he says. ‘‘These are the people nobody wants. A lot of them have come out of prison or they are the tenants from hell. ‘‘Most of these people couldn’t even get an account with a power company.’’ But some irresponsible boarding house owners are only in it for the money and care little about their tenants, the manager, who wants to remain anonymous, says. A move by Auckland Council to inspect 20 boarding houses in South Auckland is a good first step Useful: Auckland councillor Wayne Walker wants the boarding house review’s scope expanded. to clamping down on living conditions in them but stricter rules are needed, he says. The pilot project will see the boarding houses evaluated to see if they meet sanitation and building safety standards. But the manager says it needs to go much further. ‘‘A licence system needs to be put in place with a rating scale, like what restaurants have. We already have to get a building warrant of fitness. Any building with more than eight people has to have one.’’ Weekend Passenger Service Pine Harbour to Waiheke Island Book online at www.sealink.co.nz Boarding house woes The Papatoetoe boarding house manager says the business was plagued by prostitutes when he took over three years ago. He put up a sign to rid them from the premises. ‘‘We worked hard to fix the problem, mainly through mass evictions. We had a big problem with people bringing prostitutes back to their rooms.’’ Most of the people who live in the building are single men. ‘‘We had problems with drug dealers too. The evictions got rid of them as well.’’ But he’s also worried tenants will be thrown out on to the streets if businesses are closed down as a result of the review. ‘‘We’re flat out here, we have 30 rooms and we’re getting 12 to 13 inquiries a day from people looking for a room.’’ Councillor Wayne Walker also questions whether the review goes far enough. ‘‘Even if it meant putting a bit more resource into this project, it would be really useful to get a wider picture of what these boarding houses are like.’’ Walker has encouraged council officers to look at the demographics of the people using boarding houses and their living conditions. Mervyn Chetty, the council’s manager of environmental health, licensing and compliance services, says he will look at how the scope of the study could be expanded to accommodate that request. Any social issues discovered will be reported to social service agencies, Chetty says. The main compliance issues with the boarding houses are overcrowding, cleanliness, pest infestation and building defects such as broken windows. The review is being done throughout March and a report will be finished in April. The findings will go towards the regulatory and bylaws committee’s review of whether the existing rules are sufficient or if additional tools are needed. Get to Waiheke in just 25 minutes! Sailing Times (Saturday & Sunday) - FREE shuttle to Oneroa Pine Harbour to Waiheke Island - 9:15am | Waiheke Island to Pine Harbour - 5:30pm ONLINE BOOKING SPECIAL 25 Adult Return SL-15-010
Links
Archive
March 3rd 2015
Navigation
Next Page
