A woman who was found dead her a car in Remuera on Thursday was previously "mistakenly categorised" as a freedom camper, Auckland Council says.
In a statement, Auckland Council's Kerri Fergusson said the council got a complaint about the car on St Vincent Ave in May and several follow-ups after that.
"We mistakenly categorised and later closed [the complaint] as an incidence of freedom camping – rather than a situation that required escalation," Fergusson said.
“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. This usually includes referring a person onto 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."
She said while council wasn't "equipped to deal with the welfare or mental health needs of individuals, we have established relationships with support agencies and play a support role to those agencies".
"This is a tragic situation and sadly something that social service agencies are struggling to deal with across Tāmaki Makaurau."
Fergusson said Auckland Council would be reviewing its reporting processes.
An Auckland City Mission spokesperson said two of its team members carried out a wellfare check on the woman on Thursday morning.
"Upon arrival they found an elderly woman unresponsive in her car. They immediately called emergency services who were able to confirm that tragically the woman had passed away."
The spokesperson said the woman wasn't known to the Auckland City Mission, so they didn't know how long she'd been sleeping in her car for or what led to it.
"What we do know is that far too many people in Auckland do not have adequate housing, and that on any given night there are potentially hundreds of people sleeping in their cars.
"It is an abhorrent situation, and yet each and every day we continue to work with people and families from across Auckland who are living in poverty and have a great need for housing, for enough nutritious food, and for access to affordable healthcare."
Stuff reported that residents living nearby noticed the woman had been using a red Sukuzi Swift as her home since March and started to worry about her as temperatures began to drop.
On Thursday, police told 1News it was at the scene of a "sudden death" in Remuera.
"At this stage, there are no suspicious circumstances and the matter will be referred to the Corner."
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