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CONCERNS about their future saw Ōtorohanga Support House staff senior staff go to last week’s community board meeting to plead for a lease.
Manager Gretta Withers said support house staff were surprised to see their Maniapoto St site set aside for a possible redevelopment in the town concept plan.
Speaking in the public forum at the Ōtorohanga Community Board meeting, Gretta outlined the work the support house does in the community and that many people benefit from the diverse range of services offered from a building that was bursting at the seams.
They were able to use temporary space in the adjacent building but were not able to take full advantage because Ōtorohanga Support House Whare Awhina did not have a lease on either building, Gretta said. It was a limiting factor.
They needed to access both areas and have the ability to renovate them. If the support house was going to be moved on, they needed transparency so they could look for alternatives, Gretta said.
“But alternatives are rare and the huge upheaval for all. And might I suggest may not be immanent. A lease in the interim would solve this.”
“We need room. We need to function efficiently, and we are being hamstrung.”
One alternative presented by council was to use the building behind their whare with access from Lawrence St.
Gretta said this might seem a viable option, but the support house did not want to disjoint its services with separate buildings, and the alternative premises would compromise both support house staff and clients’ safety. Splitting services off would also increase administrative and security costs.
Their clients were often minors and safety plans dictated staff were not allowed to work alone without back-up support.
“Those risks aside, we would have no security of tenure if that building were utilised,” she said. “It would be no advantage; all our services band together and our existing whare allows people access to complementary help, collaboratively.
“This reduces negativity for clients, giving them a one stop shop. It also reduces the risk of human nature accessing multiple agencies or duplicating support by different agencies for the same service. The core of our kaupapa is the wellbeing of our community. The benefit of our mainstreet location means we are truly public and freely available.”
The team being in one location was a support to all the staff in the delivery of their vital roles, she said.
“The old adage, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it, comes to mind. We operate well where we are. We are accessible, reliable and utilised. It seems like a lot of risk for our people. We respectively ask, implore you for your support for our case for a written lease from the council on an urgent basis.
“We are an essential service we need you to be aware of our predicament, and despite our efforts the truth is we still have no written lease for any period for either adjacent building.”
The community board will pass the request for a five-year lease on to the Ōtorohanga District Council.
