MAYOR Karen Williams has asked for talks with MP Don Brown and Housing Minister Mick de Brenni over what should be done about an emerging homeless issue at Capalaba.
Cr Williams said she had called Mr Brown to discuss the issue and would meet with Mr de Brenni on Monday.
“I’m keen to work with the state to find a solution,” Cr Williams said.
“This is a whole-of-community situation and all levels of government and community groups need to work together.
“We are coming up to Christmas and to have vulnerable people in our community shuffled around the city from place to place is not the solution.”
About eight people are living behind an industrial area at Capalaba and have been the subject of complaints from business people.
They also have been harassed by thugs who have urinated and defecated on the belongings at the orderly camp.
It is understood that council has given those living in the tents an extra week to remove their belongings.
They had been told to move their property by Thursday (yesterday).
Mr Brown said he had talked to Cr Williams on Thursday to discuss options.
“In recent weeks we have housed three families from the site and fund the Redland Community Centre who have been doing fantastic outreach which I recently highlighted in Parliament,” Mr Brown said.
“Seeing it was (federal MP) Andrew Laming’s Facebook post that got these homeless people kicked out of the site, what is he doing?
“What funding is he willing to come to the table?”
In response to a social media post asking why emergency accommodation could be arranged in a natural disaster but homeless could not be helped, Mr Laming said on Facebook these were highly complex circumstances.
“Please leave it to the experts to resolve,” he said. “My role was to end the tent city – by asking if there wasn’t a better approach. That question I suspect, led to them finding one.”
Mr Brown said local police had told him the people living in the tents had not committed crime and there were no drugs at the site.
“Now they (the tent city occupants) are disconnected from services that were helping them to find homes,” he said.
We are coming up to Christmas and to have vulnerable people in our community shuffled around the city from place to place is not the solution.
- Redland City mayor Karen Williams
A council spokesperson said officers were working with community groups to ensure people were safe and supported.
“Council has been working for months to support those sleeping rough in this location, including working with police and community organisations to respectfully provide connections and access to support to help these homeless people, as this is a serious social issue,” the spokesperson said.
“The Queensland Police Service asked people to move from the site last week, but some people have since returned to the site.”
The spokesperson said council had received complaints about the group from businesses.
“We understand that many of the homeless are coming to Redlands Coast from other local government areas that have significant funding and assistance that is not available in Redland city,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not respond to questions that council staff had warned people they had to move on Thursday nor about what would be done with tents and belongings if they were still at the site by council's deadline.
