‘Of course it’s sad’: Derelict land trust hostel fails homeless mob

There are renewed calls to activate a centrally located Indigenous-owned hostel left to languish and decay amid a critical Cairns housing shortage.

RENEWED calls have been voiced to activate a purpose-built centrally located 28 room hostel that has been left to languish and decay amid a critical Cairns housing shortage.

Rusted car bodies litter the sprawling Portsmith site and rooms filled to the rafters with junk and unclaimed possessions belie a failed bid to benefit Indigenous people.

Touted as a hope when the 16.83 hectare Hartley St land parcel was turned over with freehold tenure to the Alluna Land Trust in 2002 the derelict property has failed to advantage the broader Indigenous community.

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Plans to use rooms in an effort to address Indigenous homelessness date back to 2002 when the then Beattie government proposed to extend the site and make full use of a large commercial kitchen in a “long term plan” house Indigenous families.

And in 2013 Alluna Land Trust traditional owners and developer Eco Civil Solutions announced accommodation plans to house more than 50 people alongside childcare facilities, commercial sheds, a kitchen and a multipurpose recreational centre, however its understood this was never built.

Former Alluna Land Trust chairman Warren Singleton currently living at the site said efforts to activate the site through funding requests had gone unanswered.

“It has not been running for a long time, I think it stopped running a few years before we got (the land) back,” he said.

“We’ve tried to get this place up and running over the years, but it’s never eventuated.

“We have reached out to government and a lot of people. Everyone can see its potential but no one wants to spend the money.”

Alluna Land Trust chief executive officer Ken Reys with Eco Civil Solutions project manager Phil Cassell and Alluna Land Trust chairman Warren Singleton in 2013 at the announcement of a mixed commercial and community development at the site of the Alluna Hostel.

The Alluna Hostel was originally set up to house mob visiting Cairns from Cape York for medical appointments.

Four blocks containing seven rooms per block, an admin building and a commercial kitchen and mess hall make up the buildings of the former hostel.

Opposition Police and Corrective Services spokesman Dale Last said the site was currently a missed opportunity to provide the basics for homeless Indigenous people in Cairns.

“Regardless of who owns the facility on Hartley Street, if it is being unused and could be used to support homeless people, then that option should be explored,” he said.

“If that facility is in a state of disrepair, government support to get it up and running again would be a logical step in addressing both homelessness and public safety issues that are damaging Cairns as a destination and damaging the lives of those who are homeless.”

Mr Singleton was disappointed to see the dwellings in their current rundown state while so many Indigenous people slept rough on the street.

“Of course it’s sad but it is what it is,” he said.

The former land trust chairman’s long term vision for the property was for an Indigenous-built light industrial complex.

“These are old buildings. I would like to see if we could get to a stage of just knocking them down and building sheds for light industry.”

The Hartley St hostel joins the vandalised and disused state-owned 40-bed homeless shelter at Quigley St that has sat empty since 2020.

The Department of Housing and current chief executive of the Alluna Land Trust Gudju Gudju Fourmile

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Originally published as ‘Of course it’s sad’: Derelict land trust hostel fails homeless mob