‘Unsustainable’: Alice Springs youth hub to re-open to 24/7 operation despite report highlighting issues
THE CLP’s member for Braitling Joshua Burgoyne says his constituents have been ignored, as the Alice Springs youth hub prepares to return to 24-hour operations.
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THE CLP’s member for Braitling Joshua Burgoyne says his constituents have been ignored, as the Alice Springs youth hub prepares to return to 24-hour operations despite complaints from nearby residents.
In a government report shared on Tuesday, it was found that the hub – which aimed to move young people away from the CBD – had in fact likely supported young people to stay in the CBD for longer.
It also found that as a result of the hub operating 24-hours a day, residents living on Railway Terrace experienced a lack of privacy, excessive noise, safety concerns, and a heightened sense of needing to protect their property and cars.
While Mr Burgoyne praised the hub for the services being offered to help reduce anti-social behaviour and crime, he said shifting back to 24-hour operation over the school holidays was it was not fair on nearby residents living on Railway Terrace.
“These are all things that people in Railway Terrace are dealing with when the centre is open … Friday to Sunday,” he said.
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“People on Railway Terrace will be dealing with this on a nightly basis from the 25th (of June).
“Clearly the hub hasn’t achieved what it was set out to do.”
The report concluded the current operation of the hub is “an unsustainable model”, arguing the non-government community sector is better placed to run them, and recommended the activities should be run from Alice Springs town camps.
Minister for Territory Families Kate Worden said half a million dollars has been set aside by the government to help with the transition to a youth hub model operating in town camps, with a goal to have shifted operations away from the CBD by the end of the year.
“As it’s already been identified, we did put that hub together quite quickly, and it caused some stress on staff,” she told ABC Alice Springs’ Stewart Brash on Wednesday morning.
Ms Worden said the government was still working out how the services would be delivered under the new model, but flagged that Tangentyere Council would continue to be a partner in the project going forward.
“We know that we need to put those activities out into town camps,” she said.
“That’s what we’re doing, but we can’t do it quick enough for the school holidays.”
The three town camps identified in the report for the youth hub activities are Hidden Valley, Larapinta, and Anthepe.
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