Brighton homeless shelter: Dr Sally Cockburn speaks out over opposition to plan
PROMINENT Bayside doctor and health advocate Sally Cockburn says she is saddened by the attitude of people who objected to a homeless shelter planned for Brighton East.
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A PROMINENT Bayside doctor and health advocate says she is “saddened” by the attitude of people who objected to a homeless shelter planned for Brighton East.
Dr Sally Cockburn was addressing some of the criticisms from the August 28 information session for the South Rd shelter.
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She said it was “inappropriate to paint a picture of people who find themselves homeless as ‘ex-criminals’ or ‘alcohol and drug addicts’”.
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“Any of us may fall on hard times or need to flee family violence,” Dr Cockburn said.
“Indeed the new face of homelessness is older women, divorced with no financial back-up or job skills.
“I’ve always been proud of the Bayside community’s long-held commitment to caring for our own, in particular with social housing.”
The fiery meeting led to police attending a second meeting on the plans last Monday.
Up to 100 people attended Brighton Town Hall, a week after hundreds of objectors swamped the first information session.
Under the plan, five portable units will be placed on the vacant site on the corner of Barnett St, providing temporary housing for rough sleepers.
But locals said they feared for their safety if the plan went ahead.
At the September 4 event, worried neighbours were allowed only 25 minutes in total to ask questions.
Department of Health and Human Services representatives promised to answer other questions in writing by the end of this week.
But Liberal candidate for Brighton James Newbury said concerns needed to be urgently addressed.
“We still have a lot of unanswered questions about this flawed policy,” Mr Newbury said.
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