Homeless crisis worsens in Cranbourne, Narre Warren
SKYROCKETING rents, low public housing stock and rising hardship is driving a new breed of homeless people in to Casey.
South East
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THE homeless “highway” stretching from the city of Melbourne through the southeast has named key suburbs in Casey among the worst for overcrowding for the homelessness.
Narre Warren South is the seventh worse out of 88 electorates for severe overcrowding and Cranbourne is the eleventh, according to the latest data.
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A new map charts homelessness from the Melbourne CBD through such southeast state electorates as Narre Warren North, Narre Warren South and Cranbourne, revealing hidden pockets of homelessness.
The Council to the Homeless Persons (CHP) used the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 census data to reveal the plight of homeless people and create an interactive “heat map” of hot spots across Melbourne.
CHP spokeswoman Kate Colvin said southeast suburbs were sometimes seen by the homeless as the “holy land” with a promise of jobs, affordable housing and services, but these areas could no longer meet these expectations.
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She said skyrocketing rents, low public housing stock and rising hardship was driving a new breed of homeless people in to suburbs not normally associated with the problem.
She said ABS figures revealed it was not only people sleeping rough that counted as homeless, but people in overcrowded accommodation, crisis accommodation, couch surfing, boarding houses and other short-term lodgings.
The head of the Cranbourne Information and Support Service, Leanne Petrides, said the service was seeing more older women in housing crisis because of marital breakdowns.
Casey Council’s manager connected of communities, Kate Sieh said housing affordability and homelessness was a serious issue for Casey Council.
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She said collaboration between the Casey and Cardinia councils was an important step toward a co-ordinated, strategic approach to the problem.
“There’s now a clear direction and focus in achieving an end to homelessness and to increase the availability of safe, affordable and diverse housing in the region,” she said.
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