Homelessness on the Peninsula is at tragic levels.
There are ZERO emergency relief or supported crisis accommodation options in our municipality and at least 1,000 people are experiencing homelessness on the Mornington Peninsula right now.
Let that sink in! There are 1000 human beings on the Peninsula – friends, acquaintances, family members - without a roof over their heads, forced to sleep rough or in conditions that are unacceptable to any one of us.
What is the solution forced on us by the Victorian Government? Tents? With services so stretched, our only solution might be to support them is camping spaces.
We are in desperate need of funding immediately. We need $100 million from the Victorian Government's $5.3 billion Big Housing Build to fix this crisis yet we've received just 0.1 per cent despite having one of the highest levels of housing stress in Victoria.
Here are more damning statistics:
- We are the sixth worse area for rough sleeping in Victoria.
- 16 per cent of homeless residents are rough sleeping every night, many on our foreshore.
- Nearly 4,000 residents are on public housing waiting lists.
- A 31 per cent increase in rents over the past year is causing significant rental stress.
- Only three rental properties on the Mornington Peninsula were classed as affordable for a low-income earners over the past year.
We are asking the Victorian Government and all candidates running in the Victorian election to commit to:
- a minimum commitment of $100 million from Victoria's Big Housing Build program
- urgent funding for crisis accommodation.
We need your help! Join us in shouting out to fund affordable housing on the Peninsula! Demand better. Act now. Visit: mornpen.vic.gov.au/SHOUTOUT
Quotes attributable to Mayor, Anthony Marsh:
"A tent in a camp site should remain a summer holiday tradition, not a make-shift solution to our housing crisis. 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."
