Drugs, dumping and sleeping rough at Hamilton hotspot

Newcastle Liberal councillor Jenny Barrie has lodged a notice of motion to Tuesday's council meeting, saying a more collaborative approach was urgently needed to manage issues that occur after hours and on weekends around Awaba Park next to Hamilton Train Station.

Crime data shows reports of malicious damage to property in Hamilton was up 60 per cent in 2023 when compared to the previous year and theft increased by 41 per cent, while assault, disorderly conduct and drug offences were stable, but higher than the NSW average.

"Residents and businesses in the local area have advised that there has been a marked increase in anti-social behavior, continual illegal dumping and a raised sense of unease from visitors and passengers who use the railway station, due to alleged and perceived increases in criminal behavior," Cr Barrie's motion states.

Cr Barrie's motion calls for council to write to the state government appealing for greater funding for homelessness support, CCTV cameras and additional police resources and to investigate the cost of illegal dumping signage in Awaba Park.

"Anti-social behaviour has increased as a result from the increase in the numbers of homeless people sleeping rough in Beaumont Street," Cr Barrie said.

"Local visitors and business staff are being yelled at by irate homeless people who are drug effected, and dealing with their own mental health issues compounded by rough sleeping on concrete."

Cr Barrie said there had been efforts to improve the situation, including a NSW government funded mural project in December 2023 and meetings between business owners, government representatives, police and other stakeholders.

However she said the problem was still worsening.

"Council is working behind the scenes to continually clean up the park however due to the growing number of visitations by many homeless people in the area, this hotspot and social issues have fired up again sadly," she said.

"Rubbish gets strewn over the park, residents are irate, enough is enough.

"Private security guards have been called for on weekends by a local business owner, however the cost is too expensive for individual or collective group of commercial owners to foot the bill."

Jeremy Nolan, who owns the building which houses Rolador cafe, said some of the behaviour he had witnessed was "quite frightening".

He said on one occasion staff were about to open the cafe for the day and found three people in the door of the building.

"One was lying down sleeping the other two were talking," Dr Nolan said.

"My staff tried to get in, they just got abused so they couldn't get into the building. We called the police and it took the police two-and-a-half hours to come.

"These were young girls, one of them it was her first shift and she said 'I'm not coming back'. So she's never come back.

"I don't know what the answer is, but the thing something's happening everyday. There's someone being screamed at. You're walking past and they say 'do you have a cigarette' and if you say no they scream at you.

"These are people who are being really violently aggressive. I've got iron grill gates on my building that were ripped off."

Cr Barrie and Dr Nolan have flagged concern about a free food sharing initiative in Awaba Park next to Hamilton Train Station drawing anti-social behaviour to the area.

But the initiative, Food Not Bombs, has defended itself as trying to help people in need, saying issues in the area won't go away if they were to cease operating.

Volunteers Elena and Quinn said factors such as the rising cost and decreasing availability of housing, overdevelopment, reduced access to social services, intergenerational trauma and deprivation and a lack of facilities for people without homes all contributed to the issues being reported.

Elena said crime had been an issue in Hamilton since she grew up in the area, and did not believe increased police resources was the solution.

"Increased policing is not going to redress trauma," she said. "We may be able to incarcerate people who are causing distress to others in a public space in that moment, but the violence and the suffering is only going to continue without a cultural change.

"We need to shift our cultural understanding past merely the symptoms and the behaviors. We need to understand the root cause if we hope to actually address it."

Quinn said a police blitz in the area about two years ago did little to change things long-term other than increase tension, and also pointed to licenced venues as another contributor to crime in the area.

"So many of the people in this park have had a really adverse experience with police," he said.

"Maybe increased policing feels like safety for other people, but a lot of people here feel unsafe and mistrust and so, hearing calls for increased policing around this area I think is concerning to a lot of us."

"We're not questioning the adverse effects," Elena added.

"I think what we're questioning is the effective of the strategies that have been used. I don't think I've seen the police participate adequately in de-escalation."

Cr Barrie and Dr Nolan also took issue with community pantries, or free shops, placed in the park, where people donate food, clothing and other items for those in need to take when they desire. City of Newcastle in 2021 planned to remove the cupboards from the park, but Labor councillors intervened to save them after a community petition attracted thousands of signatures.

Quinn said the pantries or free shops filled a gap for people seeking support.

"What they do that other services don't is provide a 24-hour access point for emergency resources," he said.

"Some people have been blacklisted from certain services, there's a lot of shame around accessing support if people's experience is that they're going to be turned away or told that they don't fit the criteria.

"At the moment, one in every two people who are seeking support from homelessness services will not receive support," Elena said.

"If these cabinets weren't to exist, others would take their place. I would like to see more of these around the community so the distribution of emergency resources is actually spread out a bit more, so it's more accessible.

"I don't believe the pantry actually has any connection to those issues.

"I think what the pantry is, what Food Not Bombs has done, is injected a bit of love and compassion into the space and held out a hand to say maybe we can facilitate our survival together."

Darren Wright, who uses the community pantry, agreed.

"We're so lucky to have this here," he said. "A lot of people don't have a place to sleep tonight.

"Knowing that someone cares, it means a lot."

Elena and Quinn said they would also like to see more resources for people sleeping rough, such as community lockers, increased shelter, phone charging stations, more public toilets and drinking water.

Dr Nolan agreed that homelessness was a complex issue, but said "something needs to be done".

"I think the rights of a few people are transcending the rights of the whole community," he said.

Elena said some in the community didn't have the luxury of having their worst moments in private.

"No one has more of a right to exist in the space than anyone else and just because someone is spending money in the local area doesn't mean that they get to occupy the park more than people who aren't spending money," she said.

"There is decreased space in which people can suffer. It is definitely uncomfortable to see someone yelling in a public space, but I also wonder about if we are conflating discomfort with unsafety or if we are assuming a threat."

Cr Barrie said she wanted Awaba Park and the surrounding area to be a safe place for all and would like a cross agency meeting to be held by the end of June, where stakeholders including homelessness service providers, government and police can all have a say.

NSW Police said they used "intelligence-based policing" to increase proactive patrols in areas where there were higher rates of reported incidents.

"As part of normal duties, officers conduct regular foot patrols around the area with a focus on community interaction," a spokesperson said.

"Newcastle City Police District have been targeting anti-social behaviour in Beaumont Street, Hamilton, including Awaba Park, additionally, officers attached to the Police Transport Command regularly patrol Hamilton Rail Station and Awaba Park during their daily duties."

City of Newcastle said it was working with all stakeholders regarding the use of Hamilton Station including residents, businesses, Police, Transport for NSW, and key service/utility providers.

"Food Not Bombs is one of several community groups that provide support services out of the adjacent Awaba Park," a council spokesperson said.

"City of Newcastle takes a collaborative approach to these groups and there have been no discussions about preventing their support for the community.

"The pantry used by FNB two nights a week is in poor condition and CN is in the early stages of discussions about replacing it with something more durable and aesthetically pleasing."

The council said it and Hamilton Business Improvement Association had met with police to request increased, proactive patrolling.

"Unfortunately, a lack of police resources means this can't occur as frequently as requested by local businesses and the community," the spokesperson said.

"Late last year CN also wrote to the state member for Newcastle to advocate for the installation of CCTV at Hamilton Train Station to help monitor anti-behaviour. We remain hopeful this will be announced by the NSW government in this year's state budget."