The pressure to find a solution to the Mornington Peninsula’s housing crisis is intense. But Mornington Peninsula Shire is adamant the answer doesn’t lie in tents.
“Homelessness on the Peninsula is at tragic levels,” the shire said in a statement last month. “There are zero emergency relief or supported crisis accommodation options in our municipality and at least 1000 people are experiencing homelessness on the Mornington Peninsula right now. What is the solution forced on us by the Victorian Government? Tents? With services so stretched, our only solution might be to support them in camping spaces.”
“A tent in a campsite should remain a summer holiday tradition, not a makeshift solution to our housing crisis,” Mayor Anthony Marsh said. “But that’s the forced position we find ourselves in due to an incomprehensible lack of support, interest and funding from the Victorian Government to support thousands of our vulnerable community members. We need at least $100 million from Victoria’s Big Housing Build program to go toward housing on the Mornington Peninsula. Our community is in desperate need of crisis accommodation, social housing and affordable housing.”
According to the shire, 16 per cent of homeless residents sleep rough every night – many on the foreshore. It asked residents to add their weight to the push for housing money by joining its Shout Out For The Peninsula campaign. Visit mornpen.vic.gov.au/SHOUTOUT for details.
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