Eddie Russell
Melton council will investigate providing accommodation for people experiencing homelessness in the area.
Councillor Julie Shannon raised a notice of motion during council’s June 24 meeting, asking council to investigate the delivery of short-term emergency accommodation.
She said there were too many residents of Melton sleeping rough.
“In the last year alone, council has received 90 notifications of people sleeping rough in public spaces,” she said.
“Apart from that, many people in our community that have no safe home or bed will sleep on couches … or they will sleep in cars.”
A report on the proposal will be presented to a future council meeting and is expected to outline the role of existing homeless support services in Melton, including from all levels of government and supporting agencies.
Opportunities identified in the report could be referred to the 2025-26 council budget if further feasibility analysis was required.
Cr Shannon said while the responsibility for tackling homelessness did not lay solely at the feet of council, it had no choice but to act on the matter.
“While it’s not necessarily a council issue to solve, we can’t turn a blind eye either,” she said.
“This issue seems to be only getting worse and needs to be addressed.”
Cr Shannon said council already had the existing facilities needed to help.
“We are one of the only councils with its own housing stock that supports both short and long term housing.”
Currently, Melton council works with support service providers, delivers the state government-funded homelessness program, monitors homelessness in the municipality, and advocates for change.
As reported by Star Weekly, a Council to Homeless Persons report in May 2023 showed homelessness had increased by 134 per cent between 2016 and 2021 in Melton.
The short-term accommodation would also consider those with pets.
