An elderly woman found dead in her car in the Auckland suburb of Remuera had been living there for months - but the authorities failed to act.
Photo: RNZ / Patrice Allen
The body of the woman, who was in her 70s, was found in her Suzuki Swift on St Vincent Avenue early yesterday morning by Auckland City Mission workers who had been alerted by residents.
Auckland Council has confirmed it was contacted by a resident back in May about a woman living in her car - but the call was miscategorised as a complaint about freedom camping.
A council official, manager of compliance response and investigations Kerri Fergusson, said it was "a tragic situation".
"The council received a complaint from a resident in May, and several subsequent follow-ups, which we mistakenly categorised and later closed as an incidence of freedom camping - rather than a situation that required escalation.
"On occasion, we will visit a site where individuals are reported to be sleeping in vehicles to see whether there is anything we might be able to do to assist."
The council was not equipped to deal with the welfare or mental health needs of individuals but had established relationships with support agencies, she said.
"This usually includes referring a person on to another agency or raising the situation with that organisation. This is often managed on a case-by-case basis as we recognise that effective outreach takes time, is specific and focused on the individual."
The council would be reviewing its reporting processes to ensure its teams were better prepared to respond to such calls, she said.
"We also urge people to reach out to social support agencies directly if they have concerns about rough sleepers or homelessness as many people in this situation are well known to those various agencies."
Auckland City Mission was supporting people of all ages who were sleeping rough or in their cars or couch surfing, Helen Robinson said. Photo: RNZ Insight / Sarah Robson
Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson said after receiving an online notification from a neighbour the night before, two outreach workers visited early on Thursday morning to check on her.
They could not rouse the woman, who was in the back seat of the tiny car, and called the police, who confirmed she was dead.
"For both of the workers it's not the first time it's happened, but it's a total and utter tragedy," Robinson said.
"I wouldn't say it's a common thing, but sadly in the life of the mission, it's part of the reality."
Auckland City Mission was supporting people of all ages, from teenagers to those in their 80s, who were sleeping rough, or in cars or couch-surfing, she said.
People who were homeless typically suffered poor health and premature death.
They often had bodies that were "20 years older than their chronological age", she said.
"You don't wish this on anyone, let alone a 71-year-old. She must have been certainly someone's daughter, if not someone's sister, aunty, mother or grandmother.
"People matter and are important, and categorically, without one iota of variance, no individual should be living in a car.
"Every one of us has a right to a home that is adequate, appropriate, safe and affordable. So this is a real shame on us as a nation."
The council had a process for referring such cases to Auckland City Mission, and Robinson did not know why it did not happen in this case.
"I know that over the years the council has worked very hard to genuinely respond to the needs of people living on the streets - and the fact we even have a notification process and agreement shows that.
"The council actually supports us to do this outreach, so in a number of different ways they are showing their care and concern and partnership with us.
"And I have no doubt that they will also be seeing this as a great tragedy."
Woman 'wanted to be left alone'
The Remuera resident who tried to help the woman said she was well kept, quiet and refused her offers of assistance.
The resident said her family became worried a couple of months ago when they noticed leaves building up around the red Suzuki Swift's wheels, and realised someone was living inside.
"It was still fairly warm 'cause we were all outside on the deck, and my family were over, and my dad said 'I think someone's living in that car.'"
With time, the resident said she saw the woman in the car, noticed her age - and became concerned.
However the woman wouldn't talk to her, or open her door, she said.
"When we did get a response out of her it was always a nod or a shake of the head...she gave pretty good indication that she wanted to be left alone."
The woman never appeared to walk very far, she said - only ever up to the street corner.
"She was always quite well kept, her hair was pulled back and, [she had] good warm adequate clothing. She obviously cared about her space - she would clear the condensation off her windows each day," she said.
"That's really only when I'd see her... the rest of the time she was just in the back seat and she had things covering the windows. We couldn't actually really see her in there."
The resident and her family tried phoning 105 and then Auckland Council with their concerns, but said "as time went on, it just felt like nobody had checked on her."
She then contacted the City Mission, who arrived yesterday "within 24 hours", to check on the woman - to the resident's relief.
However they discovered the woman dead, in what the resident described as a "really sad" outcome.
The resident said she had copped flak on social media about "not doing enough" to help, but she was not sure what else she could have done.
She said other neighbours had told her they had no idea someone was living in the car.
"We all need to sort of just take a better notice about things that may be happening in our neighborhoods... people are doing doing it tough, and it's probably only going to get worse."
Police said they were unable to comment, as the woman's death had now been referred to the coroner.