Wagga City Council has come out swinging at the NSW government over its role in ordering homeless people out of Wilks Park, accusing the state of abandoning discussions and putting vulnerable people at risk.
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The council has borne the brunt of community criticism and outrage after it last week delivered move-on notices to rough sleepers in the North Wagga campsite.
More than a dozen long-term campers were given letters telling them they had 28 days to leave because they exceeded the park's 72-hour stay limit. However, the council has now indicated it won't follow through on the threat after making explosive claims that the Department of Communities and Justice [DCJ] hadn't acknowledged its role in the saga and failed to help secure suitable alternative accommodation.
But the department and Wagga-based Nationals MLC Wes Fang have hit back, claiming the government was given no warning about the eviction letter, and was not engaging in discussions with Wagga council at all.
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As the regulator and manager of the land, the council was forced to act after complaints from residents and businesses, its community services director Janice Summerhayes said at the time.
Ms Summerhayes said the council would "closely liaise with DCJ" to find accommodation for the homeless.
However, via a statement yesterday morning, the organisation claimed communications had broken down.
It accused the government of leaving council "in a vacuum in relation to the options and the care" for those at the park and said no one from DCJ made themselves available for a councillor workshop on the issue.
The council's general manager, Peter Thompson, said DCJ's actions were "not acceptable". "Council wants no part in creating harsh outcomes for people through more uncertainty, but it's only the state government who can fill that void," he said.
Mr Thompson said it was the council's understanding that when the eviction letter was handed out, the state government would then step in to help.
"Up until last week we understood that they were going to fill that void, as of this morning we have no idea what the state government intends to do, in fact we have no idea they intend to do anything," he said yesterday.
"It's local government that has done the bit they we were requested to do, and that the state government knew we were going to do, and it's the state government who has vaporised into the ether."
A spokesperson from the Department of Communities and Justice told The Daily Advertiser they provide outreach services to the homeless at Wilks Park on a regular basis, but had been left in the dark about the council's actions.
"The Department of Communities and Justice was not provided with prior notice of Wagga Wagga Council's notice to vacate in respect to the rough sleepers in Wilks Park," the spokesperson said.
Poorly handled
Mr Fang was incredulous at claims that the government has gone missing on the issue. The MLC said the council was pushing "clearly incorrect information", and was using it to blame the state for their own "cold-hearted decision".
"I think it's been handled really poorly," he said.
Mr Fang said the council's decision to "unilaterally" reverse the decision to evict people from the site is proof that the original eviction decision was "council's decision and council's decision only".
He also questioned claims from the council that the DCJ was informed of the eviction notice, or that the department had engaged in any discussions with Wagga council about the situation at Wilks Park.
"I have been assured by the minister's office that there was no prior warning [about the eviction letter]," Mr Fang said. "I asked today exactly who it was that [council] were speaking with, so I could seek independent verification and they refused to give me any names."
Despite the government's lack of prior warning, when the letter was given out it was DCJ staff who went to the park and offered services to the homeless, Mr Fang said.
"It was us actually on the ground late last week trying to mop up the human toll council created at Wilks Park," he said.
Mr Thompson said, upon reflection, the council was "naive" to think the state government would follow through and provide services after the groups had engaged in "weeks" of discussion about the homeless in Wagga. And as it stands, there will be no action taken against the residents of Wilks Park.
"People sleeping in Wilks Park, in a floodway, underneath a tarp, should not be the standard that the NSW government is aspiring to," he said. "If the NSW government is not providing alternatives to these people we won't be exercising the requirement in that letter for them to move on."
The spokesperson said DCJ and St Vincent de Paul staff "have on multiple occasions engaged with rough sleepers in Wilks Park, offering temporary accommodation" but indicated "all offers have been declined".
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