Antisocial behaviour, homelessness, and drug use are reaching “desperate” levels in the Wellington suburb of Newtown, as reported by RNZ, with residents, business owners, and social service providers voicing urgent concerns.
At 2pm on a recent weekday, two men were seen chasing each other down the middle of the road, yelling and swearing as cars and cyclists tried to pass, before police arrived.
“About time this place got some attention,” one passer-by said. “It’s going to hell.”
Resident and business owner Duncan Mclean told RNZ the area’s long-standing reputation for colourful characters has taken a darker turn over the past year. He has even coined a term, NFN, or “Normal For Newtown” — to describe what he calls the suburb’s new reality.
“It’s the worst it’s been in 24 years,” Mclean said. “It’s got really bad with begging and homelessness and at-risk folks being affected by drug dealers. It’s threatening and I don’t think people feel safe.”
Mclean has organised community street clean-ups, discovering hundreds of small drug bags, food waste, and even human faeces behind a bus shelter. He has urged Wellington City Council to install more street lighting, but says the creative, quirky atmosphere of the suburb is giving way to a sense of desperation.
Rise in Rough Sleeping
According to RNZ, figures from the Downtown Community Ministry show rough sleeping in Wellington rose by 24% between January and March 2025, and by 10% between April and June, compared with last year.
Acting executive director Natalia Cleland said police beat patrols in the CBD have pushed some rough sleepers into Newtown. Outreach teams working in the suburb twice a week have also noticed a sharp increase.
“The presence of the police made lots of people feel more safe, but it also made others uncomfortable,” Cleland said. “Those who didn’t want interactions with police moved to different suburbs.”
Long-time Newtown resident Anton, part of the street community, told RNZ there were “new streeties showing up every day” and warned that unrecorded rough sleepers were adding to tensions. “A hungry man is an angry man,” he said.
Community Impact and Services Under Pressure
Salvation Army Newtown Corps Officer Captain Andrew Wilson said the centre had seen a four-fold increase in rough sleepers, some from as far away as Whanganui. While most were engaging with agencies, a small minority were creating anxiety with antisocial behaviour outside shops and supermarkets.
Wilson told RNZ the Ministry of Social Development’s (MSD) housing criteria — which can exclude people deemed to have contributed to their own homelessness — was an obstacle to getting some people off the streets.
MSD Wellington regional commissioner Gagau Annandale-Stone said most emergency housing applications were still being approved, but acknowledged that it might not suit people with complex needs such as addiction or mental health issues.
Calls for Action
Southern Ward councillor Nureddin Abdurahman wants Wellington City Council’s City Safety Plan, which funds patrols, CCTV, lighting repairs, and safety points in the inner city, extended into Newtown.
“This is where students live, where migrants live, and where former refugees flourish,” Abdurahman told RNZ. “No one chose to be sleeping rough outside. But now it’s getting a little bit out of hand.”
A council spokesperson told RNZ there are no current plans to expand the programme or upgrade lighting in Newtown due to budget constraints.
Mclean says coordinated action is needed from agencies to improve safety without stripping away the suburb’s character.
“Newtown is a fabulous suburb, unique to anywhere in New Zealand,” he said. “We don’t want to lose the flavour here, but it’s hard for it to thrive when it feels unsafe on the streets.”