It has taken the better part of a year, but a derelict Mitsubishi van parked in the Whakatane District Council carpark behind The Strand has finally been moved.

Local Democracy Reporting published a story in early December, in which Keep Whakatāne Beautiful Committee member Albie Hulse complained the van had been parked in its spot for at least seven months.

Albie heard the owner of the van had died and it has since had two homeless men living in it.

Local Democracy Reporting has also received phone calls from members of the public complaining that they felt threatened by the people sleeping in the van.

Mayor Judy Turner says the council has found somewhere for the people sleeping in the van to move to.

She says there has been a number of agencies working with the men, including the council, police, Work and Income New Zealand and others.

Judy says she and other councillors have been fielding complaints about the rough sleepers living out of the van.

'At the time I said to people, ‘please be patient. It's not an easy situation, there's not an obvious answer, but we're trying our hardest and some people are working on it.'

'I've been around to several agencies to see who these people were, who had a direct relationship with them and were working with these guys to help them find somewhere. That was tricky, too, because I'm finding a lot of our agencies are just flat stick with Covid support at present.

'In the end I gave it to our community development staff. It was just trying to find a good solution rather than come on heavy handed with people in need. Sometimes these things take a bit of a journey and a building of relationships. They've just taken a gentle path and have found somewhere that [the men] are happy to move on to.”

The van has also been towed to the men's new home, courtesy of the council.

-Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air