Grey Power is shocked that the body of an elderly Wellington City Council tenant may have been there for over a year.

“It is a sad indictment on society when an 88 year old man’s body can lay undiscovered in Local Authority flats for this length of time,” said Violet McCowatt, spokesman for the Grey Power Social Services portfolio.

“It is reported that a resident of the same flats admitted that there was a whisper going around that Mr Clarke might be dead. Obviously, he had not been seen coming and going, there were no lights going on or off, he had not been hanging out his washing or the like for some considerable period of time. This raises a number of questions as to whether those residents advised Council or anyone else of their concerns, whether any reports were acted upon and whether council conduct regular property inspections, do maintenance or inspect fire alarms in order to provide a reasonable state of repair to tenants. ”

“The Wellington City Council Social Housing Service Policy made public in May last year, states that Council aims to provide support for Council tenants: with two of their principles being to work in partnership to improve the lives of tenants and to provide a high quality service to tenants. Fundamental to good tenancy management is the regular communication with tenants. This morning’s Herald article reported that Councillor Stephanie Cook said that they had been trying to get hold of Mr Clarke for several weeks. He had reportedly lived at the flats for 30 years so council were fully aware of his age. The Wellington City Council policy further states that Tenancy Management deals with 3 areas one of which is Tenant Support which refers to meeting the needs of individual tenants, both in terms of housing need and other support needs. We feel that the Wellington City Council failed Mr Clarke dreadfully. “
“Communities need to adopt an active approach which reflects a caring society” said Mrs McCowatt

ENDS

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