Homeless people in Rotorua are being kept awake all night because Rotorua Lakes Council says the building they are in does not have the appropriate consent.
The man running the shelter, Tiny Deane says people are desperate for a place to stay - but the council says it would be irresponsible to let people sleep there.
Up to 50 homeless people have been sleeping in the central Rotorua building each night since it opened, but after inspecting the property the council says that has to stop
Visions of Helping Hand founder Mr Deane opened the shelter a month ago.
It's mid-winter but the council says safety checks need to be carried out on the building before people are allowed to sleep there overnight.
"We got them woken up. They weren't too happy about that," says Mr Deane. "Some had drifted off. I saw a security guard get punched in the face."
"[For] some of us that were woken up during the night... the old pukana started to come out," says night shelter client Colin Scott.
The council says it gave Mr Deane permission to open a drop-in centre, but told him that fire safety and structural reports would need to be signed off before he could use the building as night shelter accommodation.
Those at the shelter can stay overnight but they can't go to sleep.
"It'd be more cruel if there was a fire and they've got 50 people asleep up there… in a building that we know isn't compliant with regulations," says Rotorua Lakes Council's Gina Rangi.
Mr Deane says the building is fitted with cameras, smoke alarms and there are two security guards. But most importantly, he says, he is offering an immediate solution to homelessness.
"People do matter... Everyone has the right to shelter, food and water."
In March, Rotorua residents took to the streets to demand more be done for the city's homeless.
Mr Deane says as temperatures dropped no one took action. So he rented a building, filled it with mattresses and welcomed people off the streets - even though consent was yet to be approved.
"All we're doing is nurturing people that should be nurtured," he says. "Loving people that had never been loved before."
The council says it offered to pay for the reports to be done and believes it's done all it can to help.
"We've made it really clear it needs to be fire safe," says Ms Rangi.
Mr Deane says he's worried fewer people will use the shelter because they are not allowed to sleep.
He says instead of the council blocking him, they should be doing all they can to help him for taking a big problem off their hands.
Newshub.
