Perth Voice Interactive

A PLAN to help address long-standing antisocial behaviour at Wellington Square has been approved by Perth city council, but it points out the bulk of issues are in the WA government’s domain.

The PCC is responding to a recent petition from residents of the Rise apartments on Wellington Street, but the complaints aren’t new.

Locals have been concerned about drinking and biffo in the park for more than a century: as far back as 1910 the council wrote to the commissioner of police calling for more patrols.

PCC city services director Garry Dunne told a council committee many people sleeping in Wellington Square are from the country, visiting for dialysis at nearby Royal Perth Hospital.

Some don’t have accommodation, or the rooms they do line up aren’t culturally appropriate for Aboriginal people, or can’t fit all the family members they’ve brought down for support.

Aboriginal people have been camping in the area for aeons, long before the English came along to cover the fertile swamplands with asphalt and brick.

The lakes were drained in the 1830s and later named for the Duke of Wellington, a leading 19th century military and political figure. It has been the site of a horse recreation grounds, cricket games, football, rugby, and fighting.

But the history’s of little interest for surrounding residents who’ve sunk their dollars into mortgages and rent. They complain of yelling, drinking, violence and rubbish in the park, some of it caught on camera.

With the nearby lodging house Jewell House soon to close, cheap accommodation options will further dwindle. The WA health department has moved the YMCA out saying the building is 40 years old and has reached the end of its useful life (a sentiment shared by a Trip Advisor traveller commenting “I no longer fear hell”, noting the place “has the homely feel of a third world prison, and the comfort and charm of a spade to the head”).

The PCC wants a review into the state government’s patient-assistant travel scheme to ensure Aboriginal patients and their families are provided with culturally-appropriate accommodation and are “supported in using this housing” instead of heading to the park.

The PCC will also ask the state to fund a night shelter for people who continue to sleep rough in the parks, and more funding for day services like Tranby Day Centre to extend hours into the night (which worked well during CHOGM).

Acting lord mayor Rob Butler says looking to the state “is not a handballing exercise, this is a partnership”.

Cr Judy McEvoy says “we’re not police and we can’t solve it”.

For its part, the PCC will look at re-engaging the Nyoongar Patrol or a similar service to help people in the park.

It stopped funding the patrol years ago “due to concerns mainly about their effectiveness in Northbridge”, but Mr Dunne concedes it had done a good job in the parks.

The council will also consider gating off the troublesome right-of-way coming off Bishops Row, locking it at night, and start working on a masterplan for the square.

Meanwhile another petition with 476 signatories is doing the rounds asking authorities to “clean up Wellington Square,” aka “move the homeless please”.

by DAVID BELL