The Star: June 06, 2019

The Star Thursday June 6 2019
12
NEWS
news online at www.star.kiwi
Beggars, homeless and drinking
A number of strategies
have been tried and
tested in the Linwood
Village area including
a liquor ban. But it has
been dealt yet another
blow with the closing of
SuperValue last week,
Julia Evans reports
THE SHELVES were nearly
empty and almost everything was
on special – including last year’s
Christmas paper.
Instead of beggars outside,
there was a steady stream of
people making their way in
and out of the Stanmore Rd
SuperValue to get a deal before it
closed.
Friday was the store’s last
trading day, it was shutting up for
good.
But it seemed owner Choy
Ming Lee wanted to leave quickly
and quietly, without making a
fuss.
He declined to be interviewed
by The Star.
Mr Lee had previously said
drinking and begging outside
the store was putting shoppers
off – they were too intimidated to
enter.
Last year the city council
approved a permanent liquor
ban for streets around the village
bound by Fitzgerald Ave, Armagh
St, England St and Hereford St,
including Doris Lusk Reserve.
But beggars and people
drinking outside the shops are
still the main reason Steve Joseph,
who owns Hibbards Butchery on
the opposite side of Stanmore Rd
said he is also leaving.
Once his tenancy was up, the
business would be the next store
to close – he’s already purchased
another butchery to move into
and will leave Linwood when his
lease runs out mid-2020.
However, Mr Joseph said it was
not quite as bad since the alcohol
ban had come in.
“But I’ve had customers
phone in and say they would
love to shop here but they won’t
anymore,” he said.
Police drive through and don’t
stop to move people on, he said.
“Losing the supermarket is a
big blow, but it’s just the area.”
Mr Joseph was waiting to see
how losing the supermarket
would impact the area, but he
predicted it would soon be empty
of any shoppers at all.
“The street’s going to be a ghost
town,” he said.
“I can’t imagine how many
customers we are losing because
of all the drinking and smoking.”
One of his customers Lisa
Howard, who has lived in the area
for more than 20 years, said she
doesn’t go to the butchery often
any more because of the people
begging outside.
“I haven’t been down to the
butcher since people started
drinking outside . . . I love the
butcher,” she said.
The fact that the supermarket
was going would impact the
whole area, she said.
“It’s going to affect a lot of
elderly people and people who
live nearby, for a lot of people its
only a hop, skip and a jump,” Ms
Howard said.
“I don’t blame him, it’s not his
fault.”
However, she said the liquor
ban had made a different and
there were other initiatives, like
the tiny shops, a hub for smallscale
community businesses such
as bike repairs, and other work by
Te Whare Roimata, which were
helping.
“It’s hard to tell the difference
between beggars and the
homeless. If they’re genuinely
homeless, I would like to see
them get a home,” she said.
Armagh St resident Adam Calje
said SuperValue closing was a
“major loss” for the area.
“It’s angered me that the
beggars have done this. I’ve got
half a dozen neighbours I know
that won’t come down to these
shops at all,” he said.
“The whole area is dying.”
Mr Calje said the SuperValue
was convenient and cheap for
those who lived on the south
side of the Avon River, compared
to New World more than 1km
DAMAGE: It was 3pm when The Star visited Linwood Village
and a man was urinating in broad daylight.
FED UP:
Hibbards
Butchery
owner Steve
Joseph is
planning
on leaving
the Linwood
Village area.
away along Stanmore Rd.
“I don’t understand why they
don’t have this problem on the
other side of the river,” he said.
“I resent the fact I’m going to
have to walk further to go to the
supermarket.”
Mr Calje has witnessed major
fights, drinking, drug use and
been approached by women
offering sexual favours in broad
daylight.
When The Star visited last
week, a man placed his open
can of bourbon on top of the
Kiwibank ATM before he went
and urinated up against the fence.
It was 3pm.
Mr Calje said he would drive
around the block to go into the
supermarket through the back
door so he didn’t have to walk
past the beggars.
“But the neighbourhood has
improved in some ways,” he said.
The alcohol ban had helped, but
not enough.
“Before the earthquake, it used
to be quite a vibrant shopping
area,” Mr Calje said.
Now he’s made it his mission to
bring attention to the issues and
get some action.