City of Melbourne to reject Queen Victoria Market safe injecting room proposal
A plan to build the state’s second safe injecting room near the Queen Victoria Market will be could be rejected by the City of Melbourne, but one councillor has floated an alternative solution to the drug scourge.
VIC News
Don't miss out on the headlines from VIC News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The City of Melbourne is moving to formally reject state government plans for a medically supervised injecting room near Queen Victoria Market.
Deputy Lord Mayor Arron Wood wants councillors to support his push for the government to instead consider a “metro heroin and ice task-force” to help deal with the drugs scourge.
The proposed injecting room is set to become a key issue in October’s council election, with the ALP preparing a big campaign to try to take control of Town Hall.
However, Labor’s ticket, led by Slater and Gordon executive Phil Reed as lord mayoral candidate, could suffer from the decision taken by a state ALP governmennt.
Cr Wood, who himself is considering a run against Lord Mayor Sally Capp, said in a motion to be debated next Tuesday that the market was a world-renowned tourist attraction with nearly 10 million visitors annually.
“It is the City of Melbourne’s fastest growing neighbourhood in terms of residents, with a high proportion of international students...and is the location for small businesses, hotels, childcare, and the multicultural community hub, and is the gateway to the $100 billion dollar central city economy,” it said.
It is believed that several councillors are concerned about the negativity linked to the existing injecting room in North Richmond, with Victoria Police reporting significantly more drug dealing and anti-social behaviour related to drug use.
Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the council had already given feedback on possible other sites to the state government.
“I will make sure local residents, workers and businesses have their views heard on this proposal from the Victorian Government,’ she told the Herald Sun.
“We acknowledge that these facilities save lives on the inside but we need to ensure that any issues outside the doors do not impact negatively on locals.”
Minister for Mental Health Martin Foley said Victorians didn’t need another taskforce to “tell us what we already know”.
“Fifty one people lost their lives to heroin in the City of Melbourne between January 2015 and September 2019, and it has the second highest ambulance call out rate for drug related harm,” he said.
“We’ve already begun working with the council ahead of a thorough consultation process that will examine the criteria the independent review set out – including a range of local factors like health and social service providers and expectations of local residents,” he said.
“As we’ve said, if in our work consulting with the local council they locate a different site that also meets the criteria set by that panel, then we’ll remain open to that.”
It was reported in February that the number of ambulance call-outs for drug overdoses in the City of Yarra jumped by 15 per cent in the first year of the injecting room trial.
Cr Wood’s motion questions why the Victoria St site was chosen for the proposed facility when an independent panel report was silent on a preferred location.
His motion calls on the Andrews Government to develop a Metro Heroin and Ice Taskforce to consider all options to address the issue, including early intervention, drug and alcohol rehab pathways, co-located detox and drug rehab facilities, and mental health and counselling services.
It also calls on council management to provide advice on any planning controls or other powers that would enable the City of Melbourne to refuse the proposed location.
MORE NEWS:
360KG ICE HAUL SEIZED IN MELBOURNE
WHO’S WHO IN MELBOURNE’S VIOLENT YOUTH GANG SCENE
PM SLAMS BYRNE’S EXPLOSIVE, HATE-FILLED RANTS
Originally published as City of Melbourne to reject Queen Victoria Market safe injecting room proposal