Housing Corp, said to have wasted $2000 on fence

Press, 23 January 1988, Page 17

Housing Corp, said to have wasted $2000 on fence

PA Auckland The Housing Corporation allegedly wasted about $2OOO fencing an Auckland woman’s property — erecting the fence at the wrong height, using wrong size materials, and in the wrong place. This was one of the cases highlighted in Auckland at the hearing of submissions to the Royal Commission on Social Policy. The woman wanted a 6.5 m area enclosed by a 1.2 m fence to restrict the outdoor activities of her 51/2 year old intellectually handicapped child. She was told this could

be provided without cost and a social worker subsequently agreed to the size and location of the new fence. Ten months later the fence had still not been built. The woman telephoned the Social Welfare department and was told the matter was the Housing Corporation’s responsibility. She discussed the fencing specifications with several corporation officers, and nearly a year after her original request was approved a fencing contractor arrived. In spite of her protests, he put up a 1.2 m mesh fence around the whole of

her front section. The effort cost about $l9OO, and the woman was left without an appropriate area for her child.

Another submission outlined the experiences of an Auckland widow and superannuitant whose income was $2O a week short of adequate food, warmth and medical costs.

In another case, shortpayments and non-pay-ments of benefits and family support entitlements by the Social Welfare Department to a family of five allegedly resulted in a repeated lack of food, an eviction notice, and voluntary bankruptcy.