Redland City’s domestic violence support service has a new home in Cleveland after council approved an application to set up in Bloomfield Street.
Working Against Violence Support Service was given permission to move from its temporary digs at Cleveland Magistrates Court to the Bloomfield Street address at Wednesday's Redland City Council meeting.
The service, which provides counselling and advice but not refuge or shelter, was the first regional domestic and family violence service in Redlands when it opened in May.
Nearby residents complained the facility was a commercial venture and should not be located in a residential area in Bloomfield Street.
Concerns were also raised about congestion from parking in residential streets and the area's lack of affiliated services during a public consultation period this year.
Division 2 councillor Craig Ogilvie was the only one to vote against the officer recommendation even though he said he was sympathetic to the cause.
"The bottomline is that this is a commercial use - with five to six staff with clients in a residential zone and there are adjacents residents ... who will feel the impact," he said.
"Residents who buy in a residential zone should be able to expect that if the house next door is residential, it should continue to be used for residential purposes."
But councillor Julie Talty made it clear the counselling service was not a women’s shelter and nobody would stay at the facility overnight.
She said council considered the issues raised in submissions and recommended a range of conditions which include restricting operating hours and providing sufficient car parking.
“The location is also appropriate in that it is not in a central business area, providing clients with privacy and a safe place to seek help.”
Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said the service was allowed to be in a residential zone under the Queensland Planning Provisions, which exempted such community services.
An officer backed the mayor and said the city’s planning scheme also had some exemptions for non-residential uses which served community purposes.
Cr Williams, a long-time advocate for a local domestic violence service, said the opening of the service followed years of hard work by the local community.
Cr Williams said the need for the service in the Redlands was all too apparent and thanked Cleveland MP Mark Robinson for championing the cause and the state for delivering funding.
“In 2013-14 the Cleveland and Wynnum Magistrates courts together issued almost 4 per cent of Queensland’s domestic violence orders – that’s more than other areas of comparable size such as Caboolture and Toowoomba," she said.
“Domestic violence is an issue that affects the whole of the country with more than 100 women, children and men dying each year in Australia because of domestic and family violence.”
Cr Murray Elliott allayed councillors' fears claiming he had a similar service in his area for 20 years and had never had any complaints.
