Government 'not able to consider' purchasing accommodation for homeless

The long-awaited parliamentary debate regarding the purchase of the former Country Pines Motel at 146 Ocean Drive, Kew, was mentioned in parliament by Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams on Thursday, June 6.

This follows a community petition which secured more than 12,000 signatures.

"Community at 3 Inc. is not asking for a government handout; it is asking for a government handup so it can get on with the amazing work it does addressing homelessness in our local area," Mrs Williams said.

"I am confident that if the Government agreed to purchase the motel for the purposes of short-term accommodation the ongoing operating expenses would be covered by philanthropic donations and community support."

Mrs Williams said the average wait time for people approved for priority housing was three years. According to the Government's annual rough sleeping street count, 53 people slept on the streets in the Port Macquarie-Hastings local government area between February 1 and March 1, 2024.

"When considering all of this, it is clear that more needs to be done to establish affordable, transitional and social housing in our regional communities," Mrs Williams said.

Member for Wollongong and Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said the current cost of living pressures and housing crisis were "causing distress" for people across the state, but said the NSW Government was "not able to consider the proposal".

"Homes NSW in the Department of Communities and Justice is not able to consider the proposal to purchase a motel for transitional housing at this time," he said.

Mr Scully said he was aware of the specific request for financial assistance for Camden Haven Community at 3 Inc. to purchase the motel for transitional accommodation.

"I appreciate the spirit of this community endeavour," he said.

The reasons for the proposal not being considered, Mr Scully said, was that "substantial work" would be needed to upgrade the property and the location on the outskirts of Laurieton, North Haven, was a long distance from Port Macquarie, and had limited access to educational, health and other amenities.

Mr Scully thanked Mrs Williams and the petitioners for bringing this matter to the Government's attention.

Mrs Williams said there seemed to be "some confusion" and that the location for the proposed transitional accommodation was close to public transport, a school and health services.

"[The building] was used as a motel not so long ago so it is in no way derelict," she said.

"It is disappointing that there is a lot of confusion about the specific site from those opposite. What they have done instead is given us a standard answer from the department."

Camden Haven Community at 3 chairperson Theo Hazelgrove said he was "disappointed" with the NSW Government's decision.

"I'm disappointed that the state government didn't catch the same passion as we have," he said. "We restore the whole person by helping the homeless and I'm dismayed that our state government doesn't have that vision."

The emergency accommodation had the capacity to house up to 100 people who were homeless, victims of domestic violence or in need of temporary accommodation for three months.

Mr Hazelgrove said rising interest rates, cost of living pressures and a shortage of rental homes were just some of the factors that were continuing to drive homelessness.

"We've been working daily for the past three years to try and get this accommodation and it took months to get 12,000 signatures [for the petition]," he said.

"The short answer is we're disappointed."

Mr Hazelgrove said Community at 3 were looking into other ways the decommissioned motel could become emergency accommodation.

"We're going to still fight," he said. "We're all volunteers and we just want to continue helping people.

"Maybe there's a way we can still provide this emergency accommodation that is so needed."