COUNCILLOR Leah Anderson has called for Port Stephens Council to find solutions for homelessness.

Following the Council Meeting on 23 August, Cr Anderson raised a notice of motion urging Council to take the homelessness crisis seriously and provide a report quantifying the issue within the region and identifying actions which can be taken to address the issue.

Cr Anderson’s motion follows the suggestion from Kate Washington, Member for Port Stephens, who called on the NSW Government to allow the Stockton Centre and Tomaree Lodge to be used for temporary accommodation.

Ms Washington was met with a response in Parliament that there is a “plumbing issue” on the Tomaree site and therefore cannot be used for this accommodation.

In Australia, there are estimated to be over 116,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night.

Within the Port Stephens LGA, concerns regarding homelessness or the risk of homelessness have been raised by local non-government organisations and community housing providers with factors such as COVID-19, the rising cost of living and broader social and economic changes, believed to have contributed to a shortage of accessible and affordable accommodation.

Cr Anderson’s motion also calls for the Council to write to all owners presently offering their dwellings for short term rental accommodation (ie Airbnb) asking them to consider putting their housing back into the long term rental market to assist in boosting supply.

“I know a lot of this comes down to the State and Federal government, but I think we need to work together.

“We all need to take this on as this is all of our problem.

“We can’t just point fingers and say, ‘it’s a State issue’ or ‘it’s a Federal issue’ because it is our issue collectively and if we all work together as a team I’m sure there are solutions out there that we can put in place,” she said.

Councillor Giacomo Arnott moved an amendment to the motion, stating that the Council write to the NSW Premier, “demanding that he put in place the suggestion by the Member for Port Stephens to allow the Stockton and Tomaree centres to be used for temporary accommodation for homeless people in Port Stephens, noting that the excuse of ‘plumbing problems’ is outrageous and ignores this major issue in Port Stephens and beyond”.

The motion was unanimously supported.

By Tara CAMPBELL