A church community worker is heartbroken a group of homeless people living on the church’s grounds are being forced to leave.
About 10 people had been camping in a car park at Holy Trinity Avonside in Christchurch.
The group had to leave on Friday after the Christchurch City Council issued an abatement notice in August.
This was following several complaints to the council last December.
The notice required the “property to cease being used, or allowed to be used, as a campground”.
Community worker Iain MacInnes said most, if not all, of the group had left the church grounds by Friday afternoon.
“We’re just keeping in touch because our jobs have now finished as well because of funding,” he said.
“I think they are quite respectful of the fact that they don’t want to cause trouble for the church, so everyone has either chosen to move [on Thursday] or today.
“They’ve moved without any problems at all.”
The situation was difficult, MacInnes said.
“It’s heartbreaking because there’s no way for us to signpost them to say ‘this is a good, safe place’.
“We have females, we have rainbow [community members]. It’s not safe for them to be in certain places.
“You have that extra complexity on an already difficult situation.”
The church had acted as an intermediary between the group and other support agencies like Comcare, Housing First and Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust.
“With that, it means that obviously they can’t get a house like tomorrow or five minutes from now. These things take time,” MacInnes said.
“At least they are now back on the housing register.”
But in the interim, MacInnes said he was unsure where they would end up.
“That’s kind of part of the problem.
“The other problem is that there’s not very many specific places and those that have already been inhabited.”
Ten people had been camping in the car park at Holy Trinity Avonside. (Source: 1News)
An unknown area, which MacInnes would not reveal, had been considered as a potential option.
But they later learned existing inhabitants did not want any more people converging on the spot.
Efforts to establish a new charitable trust – Te Puna Ora – by mid-2026 were under way, that would enable some “reengagement” with the homeless community.
However this was subject to funding, MacInnes said.
A council spokesperson said it had extended the period of the abatement notice to enable time for alternative housing options to be sought.
“Council staff have been liaising with these agencies, including the City Mission, to support the process.”
Holy Trinity opted not to lodge a resource consent to convert the car park to a camping ground, the council said.
“The council has not directed where people leaving the site should go. Our focus is to support social service agencies in finding safe accommodation and support options for those affected.
“There is the need for a city-wide strategy to address these issues and community providers are in the early stages of planning this.”
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