Fears small businesses likely follow VGCCC’s lead as injecting room wreaks havoc on North Richmond community

Victoria St traders say they’re fed up with the injecting room being the focus of the community, and hit out at the government and local council for pouring funds into its upkeep instead of cleaning up the area.

For traders and residents in the Victoria St precinct, the North Richmond injecting room has become the undesired focus of their community.

Locals are as used to journalists walking up and down the pavement inquiring about the centre as they are to witnessing petty theft, robberies and other anti-social behaviour.

Within a kilometre radius all around the North Richmond Community Health centre, needles were seen left strewn across the road or stashed in alley corners.

Smashed glass panelling and the faint sounds of sirens blaring in the background, just another Thursday afternoon for vendors.

Reports that the Victorian Gaming and Casino Control Commission would vacate their North Richmond office was not unexpected news to most.

Only a few hundred meters from the office building, Vietnamese restaurant owner Phong Nguyen, 42, said he was sad to hear VGCCC workers were leaving, fearing other small businesses would likely follow.

A man nods off and passes out after injecting heroin at the safe injecting room. Picture: David Geraghty

Needles are commonly found strewn on the ground in the area surrounding the injecting room. Picture: Facebook

“The regulars know what to expect, but the ones that come here every now and then, they get scared and they don’t bring their kids along because they don’t want to expose them to junkies screaming and fighting,” Mr Nguyen said.

Having taken over the family business in 2017, Mr Nguyen said he was disappointed the state government and local council were pouring funds into the upkeep and unintended consequences of the injecting room, rather than the precinct.

“Spend money on restoring the street, bring it back to what it used to be,” he added.

The sad reality shared by most traders on Victoria St is that the centre is here to stay, despite near constant calls for it to be moved.

Speaking with a drug-user and local resident, who wished not to be named, she said injecting room or not, the North Richmond area would always remain a hotbed of drug activity.

Residents say areas surrounding the injecting room have turned into a dumping ground. Picture: Facebook

“Whenever I score drugs, apart from if you meet someone on the street somewhere, 99.9 per cent of the time I’m scoring my drugs from housing commission flats,” she said.

“If the injecting room wasn’t here and let’s say there were no resources like needle exchanges or disposal or intervention from government and the council, people would still be coming here to get their drugs.”

She said users preferred to use there and then, likening the situation to someone pouring you a cocktail and telling you that you can’t drink it for two hours.

“People just want to use it (drugs), so they will use it soon and locally, whether there is an injecting room or not, and then you’ll end up with needles on the ground not disposed of safely,” she added.