Rotorua homeless shelter finds new location after shutdown

A man whose homeless shelter in Rotorua was shut down last month is hoping to open another one on Friday.

Tiny Deane, from the Visions for a Helping Hand charity, is hopeful the shelter will be opened by Friday night. Photo: 123rf

A night shelter set up by Tiny Deane from the Visions for a Helping Hand charity closed because it did not meet the council's consent rules.

Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick had earlier said the building Mr Deane used was not fit for purpose because people were sleeping through the night.

Shelter workers were forced to shake people awake every half-hour while waiting for consents.

Mr Deane said he has since found a new place, consent has been granted, and he was hopeful that people would be able to use the shelter by Friday night.

"We've got a couple of sign-offs. I think one's on Wednesday, one's Friday morning, and then one's Friday afternoon. We should be completely finished so that we can start sleeping there on this Friday coming up."

The new shelter can host up to 40 people.

A Rotorua Lakes Council spokesperson confirmed that consent had been granted.

The spokesperson said that the council aimed to issue a Certificate for Public Use on Friday that would enable the building to be used as a shelter while work continued to add more facilities.

Once all the additional facilities are included, another inspection will be done and council will issue a Code of Compliance.