Outraged North Richmond residents want injecting room moved

Angry residents have renewed calls to move the North Richmond injecting room, saying they have “compassion fatigue” and are fed up with being ignored.

Angry residents have once again renewed calls for the controversial North Richmond injecting room to be moved away from the area.

Several residents, who attended a community meeting at the All Nations Hotel on Wednesday night organised by Liberal candidate for Richmond Lucas Moon, said they were frustrated at the area’s escalating public drug use, crime and anti-social behaviour.

Sharon Neven, who has lived in the area for 25 years, told the public forum the injecting room continued to be plagued with issues, saying schoolchildren were confronted with drug users publicly injecting daily.

“Families and children should not be subjected to this confronting anti-social behaviour,” Ms Neven said.

“We’ve got compassion fatigue and we’re trying to retain our humanity and care for these people but it’s getting harder as we are becoming desensitised and angry at the lack of real care for drug users,” she said.

North Richmond residents are frustrated at the area’s escalating public drug use, crime and anti-social behaviour. Picture Andrew Tauber

Another resident, who has also lived in the area for 10 years, said there are more drug users publicly injecting than “ever before”.

“It wasn’t like this before the injecting room trial started, we have had enough of the state government refusing to hear us.

“It needs to be immediately moved away from the primary school.

“It is not our responsibility to continue assisting drug users when they are overdosing. There is no one helping the vulnerable people that are walking out and clearly drug-affected.”

Mr Moon responded to residents’ concerns, saying the Liberals would not renew the North Richmond injecting room trial, which ends in June next year.

“There will be no injecting room in North Richmond under the Liberal government, we’re very clear about that,” he said.

“We’ve announced about six weeks ago 180 beds in centres across the state to treat addiction and alcohol.

A resident who has lived in the area for 10 years says there are more drug users publicly injecting than ‘ever before’. Picture: Nicole Garmston

“They’ll be in medical precincts not in residential streets, have tendering but the main thing is that it will have community consultation.”

Other issues raised by residents included recent controversies at Yarra Council, public housing and graffiti concerns in Richmond.

Richmond resident, Christine, said the public housing crisis needed to be fixed “as soon as possible” in the area.

“No one has cared about residents living within public housing for years. Residents feel unsafe and the apartments are appalling. Nothing is being done to help them.”

Mr Moon said the meeting had a “fantastic” turnout.

“The main local issue was the injecting room and the inability of Yarra Council,” he said.

“Residents are outraged, I’d like to see a Labor and Greens politician walk Victoria and Lennox streets with me and speak to business owners and those in public housing,” he said.

Opposition mental health spokeswoman Emma Kealy said: “The Liberals and Nationals have always said that a drug injecting room should not be located next at a primary school.”

“The Liberals and Nationals support better access to drug and alcohol treatment rather than facilitating drug use,” Ms Kealy said.

“This is why we have committed to establish 180 withdrawal and rehabilitation beds at six sites across the state to address the waitlist crisis, and undertake community consultation to deliver an Australian-first hydromorphone program, which is the international gold standard of heroin treatment.”

Originally published as Outraged North Richmond residents want injecting room moved