Keeping Waverley LGA safe and clean for everyone

06 April 2018

23 March 2018

MEDIA RELEASE

Waverley Council asks residents not to leave unwanted goods at the back of Bondi Pavilion for use by the homeless population there.

Council staff actively monitor the build-up of rubbish across the local government area (LGA) and pay particular attention to Bondi Pavilion, cleaning and removing unattended items twice a week.

This week, a substantial amount of rubbish was been identified for removal and some items were impounded. The work was done in the interests of ensuring public places are clean, safe and accessible for the whole community.

Waverley Mayor John Wakefield said he appreciated residents wanted to help and were recycling unwanted items with good intentions, but their actions were creating a larger problem.

“Our information from homeless people in Bondi is that well-meaning members of the public regularly drop off mattresses, bedding and clothing,” Mayor Wakefield said.

“The homeless population at Bondi Pavilion feel they are obliged to accept these but they are difficult for homeless people to manage and a build-up of items soon makes the area difficult to clean, making it unhealthy and unsafe,” he said.

Council is in regular contact with homeless people at the Pavilion as part of the regular clean ups.

“Council understands the complexity of homelessness and the need to work alongside the support services which help people out of the cycle of homelessness,” Mayor Wakefield said.

“But please recycle unwanted items through established services such as charities and mattress-recycling companies and contact Norman Andrews House – Wayside for information about how to help.”

Waverley Council works in partnership with a number of specialist homelessness support agencies and an outreach team visits homeless people across the LGA each week to offer assistance and access to accommodation. A number of people have been housed over the last year as a result.

Council also refers people to support and health services as required and distributes information about local support services.