Homeless people return to camp at QVB after being moved on hours earlier
Homeless people continue to camp in a prestigious shopping area despite having their belongings trucked away by the City of Sydney Council and NSW Police on Wednesday morning.
The shantytown in one of Sydney CBD’s most expensive shopping districts has been disbanded, with most of its inhabitants moved on.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, council officers and police swooped on the homeless village set up outside the heritage-listed Queen Victoria Building, and removed couches, air mattresses, food piles and bags of clothing.
The only two remaining men left sleeping in front of the Country Road and R.M Williams stores left late on Wednesday night when construction crews for the new light rail development rolled in. Trucks, cranes and jackhammers worked late into the night and the noise drove people away.
The George Street strip had been converted into a dilapidated collection of mattresses, pallets, rubbish, crates and even a couch dragged to the front of the QVB, an up-market shopping and tourist destination.
on Wednesday police stood nearby as many of the rough-sleepers packed up their belongings and were dispersed, with a City of Sydney Council spokesman confirming workers blitzed the location about 7am.
MORE NEWS
Daley’s vow: Sydney will get its ‘verve’ back
Earlwood road rager: ‘It was self defence’
Ex-RSL boss Don Rowe charged with fraud
He confirmed the council was responsible for “managing the public domain”.
“This morning, accumulated rubbish and bulky goods in the area were removed with the co-operation of the people in the area.
“Police also attended.
“All people sleeping rough in the area have been offered support, and many have taken up the offer of accommodation.”
The spokesman said the items were taken to a council depot and disposed of, but refused to give any further details of where the furniture went.
It is understood some of the group returned to regional NSW and other parts of Sydney, but within hours several were back at the camp, much to the annoyance of shoppers.
On Tuesday Jack Leafe, 32, told The Daily Telegraph that he found being homeless “easy and enjoyable”.
Despite having his blue three-seater couch taken away on the back of a council ute, he continued to sleep on blankets fashioned into a bed on the footpath.
He said he would not leave as he enjoyed the area, and predicted more would be back.
“Council said they don’t like the image of us being here, it reflects negatively on the shop owners and that’s what the priority is,” he said.
“I like the area, I like the architecture, the people that go by. They can only move me on from one street to the next.
“Bruce (another rough sleeper) has gone to Edgecliff but he’ll probably be back. Two of the other guys — one’s gone back to Tamworth and the other went to Parramatta.”
During the day four homeless people returned to the area.
A NSW Police spokeswoman said officers attended the QVB camp to support council only, but if rough sleepers broke the law, police have the authority to legally move the homeless along.
“Police do have a range of powers to move persons, however, this is based on reasonable grounds that a group is obstructing traffic/people, intimidating, harassing and/or involved in other illegal activity,” she said.
“Police attended to provide support to the land owners, in this instance the City of Sydney Council, in preventing any breach of the peace while property belonging to a number of rough sleepers was removed. This process occurred without police intervention.”
Store operators fear the situation is threatening to turn into a farce as with the Martin Place tent city showdown of 2017, where up to 500 homeless people pitched tents in the middle of Martin Place, one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares.
The rough sleepers became so comfortable that a 24 hour kitchen began operating out of the settlement, and some residents lived there for a staggering nine months.
The City of Sydney Council were eventually forced to declare the camp a “public nuisance.”
7-Eleven worker Abhijeet Sawant opposite the homeless area.
He worried that the problem is only going to get worse, despite yesterday’s move-along.
“It used to be just one or two guys, but I’ve seen a surge all of a sudden,” he said.
“If the current situation prevails, you cannot stop them … this place gets crazy busy (and) you can’t keep an eye on anything.”
Shopper James Nguyen, 32, said that he regularly comes to the QVB after work. He said that while he was glad most of the homeless had moved on, he thought they would move back.
“They seem to really like the area,” he said.
“I know some people find it intimidating when they are here in large groups.
“I’ve walked past them countless times, they always seem to come back.”
‘Go Jo, you’re taking us for a ride’: Readers want Haylen gone
Daily Telegraph readers overwhelmingly believe that both Transport Minister Jo Haylen and Housing Minister Rose Jackson should step down from their jobs after a taxpayer-funded Hunter Valley jaunt.
Fears alleged criminals not being watched for months
An urgent review has begun on the use of private electronic monitoring devices, such as ankle bracelets, as authorities scramble to find more than 20 alleged criminals still on bail amid concerns they have not being tracked for months.