Some of the candidates vying for Rotorua's mayoralty have weighed in on the town's "MSD Mile".
Fenton St used to be the town's Golden Mile but due to emergency housing motels, it's now known as MSD Mile.
Mayoral candidates, locals and one emergency housing resident who spoke to Q+A weren't shy about their thoughts on the issue.
One woman remarked people will be harassed if they walk along Fenton St or through the city centre "just because there's so many homeless".
READ MORE: Rotorua struggling to find homes for displaced families
A man remarked "everyone in Rotorua is now vulnerable" due to the emergency accommodation.
Current Rotorua Lakes councillor Raj Kumar didn't mince his words, saying emergency housing is "a rot" which is "the stench of the whole country".
"We gotta stop this. There should be a better solution for this, not just to bring people, dump them over here and tick the boxes."
Kumar remarked he didn't want to show Rotorua in a bad light, but "this is the reality".
One man in emergency housing with his family said "it's s**t".
"It's a s**t way to bring your kids up."
He told Q+A's Whena Owen himself and his family have been living in motels around Rotorua for five years.
"They just throw us over here and they don't want to hear about us," he said.
READ MORE: Council: Rotorua emergency housing needed for at least 5 years
"It's not good living. It's not. Me and my missus want outta here."
Controversial Rotorua Lakes councillor and mayoral candidate Reynold Macpherson remarked his council peers had "helped create a homeless industry".
"I'm powerless to stop it at the moment, but if I'm elected mayor and I'm supported by a majority on council, we will go back to MSD and say 'no, we're going to dismantle this entire industry' so we can get back to being a tourist town."
Fellow councillor Tania Tapsell said as part of standing to ensure a "better Rotorua for all", her first priority to enable this is providing a safe community.
"Emergency housing is one aspect, but we do have one of the highest crime rates in the country, but we're still a great place to live, so we need to tackle the crime."
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