Wagga's homeless population felt the chill as overnight temperatures plummeted to their lowest this year with frosts across town.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
On Tuesday morning Wagga recorded temperatures as low as -1 degrees. On Wednesday the mercury dropped even lower reaching -1.6 at Kapooka.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The cold morning weather was felt particularly by locals sleeping it rough on the streets and Wagga Salvation Army Auxiliary Lieutenant David Hopewell says homelessness appears to be getting worse.
In recent months, Auxiliary Lieutenant Hopewell has noticed a "marked increase" in the amount of people on the streets and at the Family Store each week.
"Six months ago we were providing perhaps 10 meals for 10 people. In comparison, last night we went out and served 30 meals," he said.
This is a serious concern with winter barely a third of the way through.
"The discussions and chats we've been having with people seem to point to the fact that rent and housing affordability is out of a lot of people's reach these days," Auxiliary Lieutenant Hopewell said.
"Rent is increasing and there are less and less affordable houses on the market.
"While there is the odd one or two people who are quite happy to sleep in their caravan or tent, the majority, especially younger people, are saying rent has increased to the point where they've had to leave and they are now sleeping out in the rough in a tent."
Auxiliary Lieutenant Hopewell said their salaries are no longer enough for them to get by.
"One man told me a couple of weeks ago that his landlord doubled the rent with just two months notice. He couldn't afford that so they had to move out and is now sleeping in a tent," he said.
He said the rental market is "impossible" with scores of people turning up to inspections.
"It is becoming very difficult to actually get anything, even if you have the money," Auxiliary Lieutenant Hopewell said.
But despite the cold and the many financial challenges forcing people onto our streets, the Salvation Army and other local groups continue to lend a helping hand to those who need it most.
"We run a street mission on Tuesday evenings," Auxiliary Lieutenant Hopewell said.
"We go out to various places where people are sleeping it rough, including Wilkes Park, the tourist information centre on Tarcutta Street and Oura.
"We take hot meals, blankets, hot drinks, breakfast packs, a change of clothes, blankets and things like that."
The Salvation Army also runs Salvos Connect out of the Family Store each Tuesday and Thursday between 9:30am and noon where people can come along and apply for a SAL card to buy food.
"People can also come and see us and we'll take them into the shop and get clothes and blankets from there," Auxiliary Lieutenant Hopewell said.
It comes as the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts temperatures to again drop and rain to fall across Wagga and the Riverina region in the coming days.
Temperatures across the Riverina are expected to drop down to between zero and 3 degrees on Saturday, while the mercury could again dip below to minus 1 on Sunday.
"Wagga has had some clear skies overnight [this week] which gave us the morning frosts," BOM Meteorologist Hugh McDowell said.
"Things will potentially start cooling down Saturday and Sunday with a chance of a return of frosts, but that will depend on whether the sky is clear again.
"While a lot of cloud is expected along the east coast, it depends how much makes that over the mountain ranges and into the Riverina."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Download our app from the Apple Store or Google Play
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters