THE NAKED CITY – DOES SYDNEY NEED A SLEEPBUS?
In April of 2000 Clover Moore wrote to the then premier Bob Carr expressing “concern at Government inaction in the face of a growing crisis in the inner city – the crisis of homelessness.” She specifically drew attention to the “crisis situation arising in Tom Uren Square” in Wolloomooloo, where up to 40 people sleep rough every night. Flash forward 16 years and seemingly nothing has changed.
That’s not entirely true. Whilst the numbers sleeping rough are still the same, the Square itself has degenerated into a bleak, graffiti daubed wasteland, as unwelcoming to the community as the Molotov cocktails that were hurled into the area a few months ago. With the City Of Sydney Council elections this Saturday you have to ask, will anybody from any of the political parties contesting the election, finally bring about a solution to the problem?
On the surface there certainly appears to be both a willingness and urgency on the part of a number of parties to finally bring about a quantum change when it comes to addressing this problem. Whilst all are committed to the long term rehousing of homeless people in affordable accommodation, Lord Mayoral candidate Christine Forster and the Greens Lindsay Johnston are both open to the idea of immediate temporary solutions in getting rough sleepers off the concrete and into a safe and warm environment. Whether this is a vacant Council building or a series of dongas as the Greens have suggested, it needs to be done immediately.
Councillor Edward Mandla from the Sydney Matters team has stated: “The City of Sydney administration has failed the community over the past 12 years by putting pet projects above the needs of its homeless. As a result the problem has worsened with the number of people sleeping rough at night increasing by a third in the past year to a record high of 486.”
Labor’s Linda Scott has promised setting a target to increase the City’s homeless hostel places capacity, opening public toilets 24 hours a day, building public showers on designated City properties and reviewing planning policy as part of a broader City strategy to work with community and not-for-profit organisations, such as Orange Sky.
The Naked City met Liberal Councillor Christine Forster in Tom Uren Place last week, an area she was only too familiar with, having participated in the Council’s night time count of rough sleepers. In the broad daylight Councillor Forster expressed her dismay at the way in which an area once designated as a community hub had become a sadly neglected precinct and a dormitory for the homeless. She also agreed with our observation that the hundreds of thousands spent on the cosmetic makeover of nearby Walla Mulla Park was hardly justified.
Regardless of the result of this coming Saturday’s Council elections, the homelessness issue in Sydney needs to be addressed with a level of consensus and immediate action that has been missing for decades. It’s ironical that the homeless are now provided with numerous food vans, mobile washing machines and hot showers, plus a number of other health and welfare services, but denied the most basic of requirements in safe and warm shelter when it could be so easily provided, albeit on a temporary basis – especially during winter.
Melbourne will soon see the city’s first ‘sleep bus’, a largely crowd funded project, that will provide up to 22 sleep pods and personal lockers, eight pet kennels and two toilets on a specially fitted bus. Sydney could well look at a similar project. The private sector has led the way in innovative services like the mobile washers and showers provided by organisations such as Orange Sky and One Voice – the City Of Sydney Council and the State Government need to quickly follow suit.
