By Jed Lanyon
Yarra Ranges Council has voiced its support for a Federal Government inquiry into homelessness.
Speaking at a council meeting on 11 August following Homelessness Week, councillors voted unanimously to support a jointly developed submission by 12 other Victorian councils to the Federal Government inquiry into homelessness in Australia.
Councillor Tim Heenan led the way speaking on behalf of the submission, describing it as ‘important’.
“The time has come for us to think seriously about where we stand in supporting people that need to have a roof over their heads,” he said.
“We’re going to find that a lot more people are going to be sleeping in their cars, a lot more people are going to find that they need alternative means other than couch surfing.
“We’ve just come out of homeless week and I recorded all the nightly temperatures in Lilydale and it has been a freezing week. An absolutely freezing week.”
Mr Heenan usually spends Homelessness Week participating in a sleep out each year since 2008 to help raise awareness on the growing issue of homelessness.
“I seriously hope people have been able to find cover, for those who haven’t had a roof over their head.
“We need to support our community. We need to become more passionate, more understanding and more caring for these people less fortunate than us.”
Council’s current strategic links to the submission are to increase housing affordability by utilising Council-owned land for affordable housing developments and advocating for reforms to State planning policy to require inclusion of affordable housing in new large scale developments.
To ensure people have suitable, affordable and stable housing and enable the availability of a range of housing options to meet needs across the age continuum.
“In years gone by we’ve talked about statistics percentages and figures, I haven’t done that in the last couple of years because we’re talking about humans here, we’re talking about people and members of our community,” Mr Heenan said.
“Mind you the statistics are really, really high. They’ve never been low, they’ve just gotten higher and higher every year.
“This is an understanding of where we need to be more caring and I’m certainly hopeful that the statement we make to the Federal Government is going to transcend into very important actions in the future.”
