Homeless move into residence by the river

Of course it is quite possible it’s a coincidence that a homeless person or persons has/have turned this picnic pergola in Light Horse Park into a riverside residence.

The coincidence? The squatter or squatters moved in to their new lodgings just a day or two after another popular homeless people’s squat, the music shell in Bigge Park was demolished by the Liverpool City Council to make way for an upgrade of the historic green space in the heart of the CBD.

There was a hue and cry over the demolition, with some on council questioning whether in fact Liverpool has many or even any homeless people.

Having worked in Liverpool for the past 12 years I can tell you that if you went to the office early during the winter you would bump into quite a few homeless people.

As for the ones living here in Light Horse Park, check out the tent pitched up outside, maybe it’s a granny flat, said one wit when we showed them the picture.

And we love the homely outdoor feel of lounges in a couple of spots. Summer’s almost here after all. Very nice.

♦ The best thing of course is that it isn’t costing Liverpool Council a cent. And which means they can spend the ratepayers hard money earned on more important things, such as a food promotion in Martin Place last week that has cost Liverpool Council’s bottom line more than $40,000.

That’s between 30,000 and $32,000 to hire a truck, my spied tell me, and set it up in Martin Place for a World on a Plate food promotion. The food itself cost no less than around $10,000, thank you very much.

That’s a lot of food for homeless people, but which was instead was used to feed for free the hungry hordes of Sydney CBD executives doing it tough on their salaries of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But then again, they will no doubt now be booking tables at Liverpool restaurants after trying treats like pork rolls, served by the mayor himself, Ned Mannoun.

There just could be an argument here that this council leadership has got its priorities a tad wrong and these spaces have pointed this obvious trend once or twice before.

♦ Of course the council will go on the defensive and say it’s all great publicity for Liverpool, and it’s all part of the re-branding of the town. Speaking of which, more money is being spent on a new logo or two for the council, which means all official documents will need to be changed. How much will that cost? I am waiting for council to tell me.

♦ Campbelltown Council put up its rates by more than 10 per cent last year but at least it seems to be spending the extra millions on fixing the joint up. There is a bit of waste, such as fancy outdoor toilets, but generally the money is being used on the things that councils need to focus on, such as roads and rubbish – and park buildings and playground equipment and so on.

♦ This week the NRMA annual poll on roads had Liverpool motorists fuming about the state of local roads, that is, those that are the responsibility of the council. Out Hoxton Park, Prestons, Rossmore and Austral way the local roads have been in Third World state for 50 years or more. Put it this way, $40,000 would be better spent fixing pot holes than promoting local restaurants run privately for private profit.

♦ And finally this week, there was an incredible response to our story about a koala being killed by a dog at Wedderburn. It was our best read story (final figures to come but it was many thousands) and the general consensus in the responses was that in developing our region for thousands more houses let’s not forget our wonderful wildlife.