Nambour homeless advocacy: Group take a stand in Nambour town square

The Sunshine Coast council has responded to public pleas from a homeless group in Nambour to repurpose an “empty” building into a “homeless sanctuary”.

A group of homeless people has brought pleas for a safe place to sleep to the Nambour town square ahead of the Sunshine Coast council election next month. Picture: Patrick Woods.

The Sunshine Coast Council has responded to pleas from a group of homeless people asking to turn an “empty” council building into an emergency homeless shelter ahead of the upcoming council election.

The group has gathered in Nambour’s town square, off Lowe Street, in recent days, where they have set up tents with strongly worded messages and large banners advocating to repurpose a council building in Nambour into an emergency homeless shelter.

The messages include “I am not hiding in the bush anymore” and “would you want to live here?” on two tents, and two large banners reading “if home is where the heart is, where do you put your heart when you have no home?” and “if the homeless matter give us a chance release the Fred Murray building we will create a homeless sanctuary (sic)”.

Homeless are pleading with the Sunshine Coast Council to allow it to use what they claim is an empty building in Nambour for homeless services. Picture: Patrick Woods.

The group has police approval to be in the area between 9am and 5pm daily.

A Sunshine Coast Council spokeswoman said council acknowledged housing affordability and homelessness is a “significant, distressing and ongoing issue” for the Sunshine Coast, and that council have held numerous meetings with homeless people - including those living in Nambour - about how they can help.

But, the building the homeless people were campaigning to repurpose was not a suitable candidate for the project.

“Any changes in use from commercial offices need to be building compliant for the safety of occupants – which has to be our highest priority,” the spokeswoman said.

“Unfortunately, building certification advice is that in their current state, buildings like Fred Murray in Nambour are not able to be used for emergency residential accommodation and would require significant investment to meet the change from its former use for commercial purposes.”

A council spokesperson said investment decisions were in progress.

Nambour's Fred Murray building. Photo: Google Maps

The spokeswoman said all tiers of government - local, state and federal - as well as the private sector and community housing sector need to work together to alleviate homelessness.

“The State and Federal government are responsible for delivering community and social housing which includes emergency accommodation,” she said.

She said council was already contributing to finding a solution, including endorsing a plan to create affordable and diverse housing options on the Sunshine Coast, providing a rebate on council infrastructure charges to community organisations working to solve homelessness until 2028 and continuing advocate to other levels of government about solving the issue.

Abigail* is one of the people leading the charge to turn the Fred Murray building on Currie St into a safe place for the homeless.

She claimed the building was empty.

“I’d love to turn it into a shelter. There’s other floors, so it can’t be that hard to repurpose,” she said.

One of the ways she hoped the building would be repurposed was through a beddown initiative – a non-profit organisation that temporarily turns car parks into accommodation for the homeless at night.

Homeless people are pleading for a safe place to sleep in the Nambour town centre. Picture: Patrick Woods.

“We have an empty building that houses rats. Let’s house the people,” she said.

Abigail has been homeless for more than three years after she fled what she claimed was a dangerous situation five weeks into the pandemic in 2020 and was left without anything to identify herself with.

She then spent two years without any money and sleeping rough, volunteering at a food bank so she could feed herself.

She said the first place she set up camp she stayed at for seven months, before a rat infestation forced her out. The second she stayed for sixteen months, but lost her tent to mould.

Abigail* and Joseph are sitting in the Nambour town square to draw attention to the plight of homeless people on the Sunshine Coast. Photo: Patrick Woods.

Joseph, another advocate, said he had been homeless for many years and had constantly been moved on while sleeping rough in his car.

Abigail said the group’s decision to get vocal about homelessness in Nambour was sparked by the upcoming council election on March 16.

“I’ve met the current mayor, I’ve met the CEO, I’ve sat around the table with the whole executive of the council,” she said.

“I had the acting CEO at the time in tears with my testimony, but nothing, still nothing.”

A council spokeswoman said council is continuing to work with Abigail.

Councillor David Law (right) with Abigail*. Photo: Facebook

Division 10 Councillor David Law was contacted for comment, and pointed to a lengthy social media post he shared on February 18.

Mr Law said in the post he strongly agreed with Nambour having an “always open emergency shelter operated by people with a lived experience of homelessness”, and was continuing to work towards this goal.

He said he regularly met with Abigail and three other homeless people to discuss better outcomes for council services.

“Recently I requested that the evacuation centre at the showgrounds be opened during wet weather and minor flood events that impact only homeless people. I am waiting for the response to this request,” he said.

“Our community is lifted when we improve things for the most disadvantaged.”