Mackay council orders homeless to leave Bluewater Quay

A regional Queensland council has admitted to moving the homeless on from its multimillion dollar riverfront investment, claiming it was an issue of public “safety”.

Mackay Regional Council Mayor Greg Williamson said officers were moving on homeless people from the Bluewater Quay.

Mackay Regional Council has admitted to moving the homeless on from its multimillion dollar riverfront investment, claiming it was an issue of public “safety”.

Mayor Greg Williamson said between 500 and 1000 people were “sleeping rough” in the city every night while council officers worked “as diligently as possible” to ensure the Bluewater Quay along the Pioneer River remained free of makeshift camps.

“We have certainly asked people to move on in the waterfront area … leading down to the boat ramp area,” Mr Williamson said.

“That’s about public safety, we’re saying you can’t set up a full-blown camp thing there with your outdoor kitchens and everything.”

He said council officers had experienced “awful” interactions including assaults and “very, very obscene interactions” when asking people to leave but homeless occupation was “preventing” the public from using the space, including the newly opened $3.5 million riverfront wharves.

The location was popular among the homeless as it was well lit-up and just metres away from support services at Chances Op Shop, run by the Mackay-based charity, Australian Street Aid Project.

The newly opened River Wharves along Mackay's Bluewater Quay are part of the state-declared Waterfront Priority Development Area. Picture: Heidi Petith

Even the homeless trying to live inconspicuously on the other side of the Pioneer River, tucked in among the trees and hidden from the roadway, have said they were asked to leave.

Mr Williamson said he was not aware of this happening but those experiencing homelessness could not legally live on public property.

Mackay families are living in workshops, youth are sheltering in a decrepit old bank, teenagers have taken to prostituting themselves for money to survive, and children under nine years old are crying for help from specialist homeless services.

Mr Williamson said at the core of the housing crisis was the stall in residential development happening across Queensland combined with landlords selling their properties as rising house prices made it “palatable” to do so.

Mackay Regional Council Mayor Greg Williamson said council officers were moving the homeless on from sleeping at the Bluewater Quay including at the newly opened River Wharves. Picture: Heidi Petith

He said Mackay’s rental stock had dropped from 13,800 two-and-a-half years ago to just more than 10,000 now, reflected in a 0.5 per cent rental vacancy rate.

“What seems to be one of the real issues is that … banks aren’t willing to lend on floating contracts, no builders (are) willing to build on anything other than a floating contract so there’s this impasse of people wanting to build houses but you cannot,” Mr Williamson said.

He said there was no “red tape” on the council’s end, remarking that the state government’s initiative to double the first home buyers grant was not “going to do much at all” given builders in the current economic climate were not keen on fixed price contracts.

“At the moment, there’s … almost 5000 approved lots for building on in Mackay … we just can’t get anybody to build on them,” Mr Williamson said.

He said the council was doing everything it could to help Mackay’s homeless including arranging a “good deal” with the operators of the Bluewater Lagoon for it to open early and provide “dignity services”.