Perth Voice Interactive

A DRUG crisis centre has been approved for a residential street in Vincent after local councillors were outvoted by state-appointed panel members. 

The state government wants to set up an “immediate drug assistance coordination centre” in an empty building at 37-43 Stuart Street Perth, to be operated by not-for-profit Cyrenian House (“Drug help centre has residents up in arms,” Voice, November 11 2023).

The 24/7 centre would be equipped with two vans to pick up people across the city for treatment or crisis accommodation with 10 short-term beds on site.

Out of nearly 200 submissions about the proposal, about 85 per cent were against, with locals concerned about noise and more anti-social behaviour in the area.

Residents urged the Joint Development Assessment Panel to reject the centre, having no confidence that Cyrenian House’s behaviour management plan would adequately keep residents safe given their experience with similar nearby facilities. 

“We have personally experienced that the successful management monitoring and enforcement is a challenge for all involved,” Tiegan Firios said at the November 10 JDAP meeting.

“We have two lived examples in front of you here about how such plans have failed.

“They’ve had no impact on the daily antisocial behaviour of those who interact with those properties, nor have they provided sustained resolution following the complaints procedure.”

Nearby community housing on Fitzgerald Street has a “well-written management plan,” Ms Firios said, “but quite regularly we see incidents of domestic violence, thrown objects and bleach thrown from high level balconies,” along with discarded liquor bottles, wine bags and drug paraphernalia, while alcohol and drug-affected people loitered in the laneway and Robertson Park.

The building Cyrenian wants to move into is currently in bad shape: It was built in the 1950s as Masters Dairy, then was used as offices for a while but has been empty for a few years. They argue they’ll be a safer use than the current empty building, which attracts break-ins and vandals. 

Cyrenian House’s chief operating officer James Hunter said: “We understand the issues that are around that area at the moment, and we actually think that our presence there and activating that building, and running it in the way that will run it, will improve the amenity and safety of that site. 

“That’s been our experience at our other sites and we don’t see any particular reason why that wouldn’t be the case here.”

Vincent planning staff had recommended the JDAP reject the centre, saying that under state planning rules and their own planning scheme this centre “is neither compatible with or complimentary to and would not enhance the amenity or character of the existing residential developments in the locality”.

Cyrenian brought in expert planning lawyer Paul McQueen, who said the courts had been clear that such developments were allowable under planning law. Mr McQueen said the existing amenity must be taken into account, and he noted the concerns over existing troubles nearby meant “it’s not a pristine, quiet residential environment and that’s consistent with the fact that it’s high density in an inner city location”.

“Our role is to help people with addiction, which we’ve been doing for a long time, and as a consequence, the community benefits from that,” he said. 

“We are not going to be introducing new areas of risk or compromise and so the net effect on amenity… it’ll be neutral at worst, and positive at best,” he said, adding that Cyrenian had committed to regular patrols of the troubled Robertson Park in addition to on-site security.

Mr McQueen also said the “public interest” was a driving factor in similar decisions: “This service would reflect state government public health policy and contribute towards a broader public benefit by reducing and preventing drug related harm to individuals in the community.”

The two Vincent councillors on the JDAP,  Jonathan Hallett and Ashley Wallace, ultimately sided with Vincent planners and voted against the approval. But they were outnumbered by the three state appointed members: Former Bayswater CEO Francesca Lefante, former state planning department director Lee O’Donohue, and seasoned planner and developer John Syme.

Ms Lefante commented that the small number of beds, with just 10 on site, indicated a usage that was not overly “intense”, and said the IDACC may well improve the current troubles in the area and that it was a better use than the current empty building.

by DAVID BELL