The Hamilton free community pantry has been saved but its exact future remains unclear with City of Newcastle still wanting a new location for the cupboard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
An eleventh hour item put up by Labor councillors at Tuesday's council meeting called for staff to continue working with Food Not Bombs and other agencies to "support the appropriate, safe and clean provision of items and services that are needed like the Hamilton Community Pantry".
The change of heart was welcomed by Food Not Bombs, which serves food in the park and contributes to the pantry.
![WIN: Tom Wickert said he was glad council decided not to remove the pantry, but believes it is well-served in its current location. Pictures: Max Mason-Hubers WIN: Tom Wickert said he was glad council decided not to remove the pantry, but believes it is well-served in its current location. Pictures: Max Mason-Hubers](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/H4rQr3kwJCDkT9nukzGYK/6fe7de16-a0c9-4c21-a70b-ea36d0f92b85.jpg/r0_475_5210_3416_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I feel like they've finally recognised how important this service is," said Tom Wickert, who is involved in Food Not Bombs.
In a report to the council meeting, council's director governance and acting director strategy and engagement said City of Newcastle would work with Food Not Bombs and providers to "support an alternate location for the pantry where it is less likely to be misused by a small section of the community for the purpose of drug dealing".
But Mr Wickert disputed this notion.
"There's a massive drug misuse issue in our community, there's no denying that," he said. "But to assume that's a reason to remove a support structure for people experiencing issues is not a solution. In fact it's further criminalising people and acting as a further barrier for them to meet their basic needs, which they have a human right to.
"The claims that the free pantry is some kind of drug trading location is really out of touch with the reality of what drug misuse looks like."
Mr Wickert said if the community thinks the pantry is better off elsewhere, he would support that, but council "insisting it be moved is out of line with what the community would like".
"A lot of folks come to this train station," he said. "I think it serves a lot of people who are experiencing the sort of housing insecurity that means they have to travel consistently. There's also a lot people who use trains as safe means of sleep.
"Removing it from this space means it's that much more difficult for that demographic of people to access support."
The director said council staff had visited the park multiple times to engage with Food Not Bombs and "attempted to build awareness of the range of other services in the area, establish a dialogue with those providing outreach, as well as remove rubbish from the site".
![GIVING: Community members regularly drop in to donate items to the pantry and free shop. GIVING: Community members regularly drop in to donate items to the pantry and free shop.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/H4rQr3kwJCDkT9nukzGYK/150f4e70-e874-4376-a927-814327fa5037.jpg/r0_517_5062_3374_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"These visits have been challenging in that Food Not Bombs is reluctant to engage with CN staff and also refuse to recognise CN's authority over the park land," the director said.
The report said the park's amenity and safety had improved and visits by Department of Community Justice led to four people being housed.
Mr Wickert welcomed council "to come to a food service and show support".
"They have done that, but they've got to change their tactics because struggling to get a one-on-one meeting makes sense for us, but it doesn't make sense for them.
"We're not gatekeeping anyone from supporting the community, just showing everyone that you don't need to work for a charity or the state in order to do that."
Councillor Carol Duncan said while the initiative was "imperfect" so was "every other measure put in place by council and other agencies".
![SUPPORT: Messages from a petition to save the pantry were sprawled around the park on Wednesday. SUPPORT: Messages from a petition to save the pantry were sprawled around the park on Wednesday.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/H4rQr3kwJCDkT9nukzGYK/c5dba07b-9a40-4c26-aca0-dadc2f71fa28.jpg/r0_0_5472_3648_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"As imperfect as they are they can help ease the difficulties that people are experiencing," she said.
"We all know there are members of our community who are homeless, who are subject to domestic violence, who may suffer from mental health or other health issues and this leaves them incredibly vulnerable and in need of these additional services," she said.
"Sometimes these services need to go to where they are and that's on the streets."
But she said it had been difficult to engage with Food Not Bombs, and had reached out to them multiple times and received no reply.
"Because they refuse to engage with council and other authorities based on their philosophy of being an anarchist group," she said. "Which is all well and good until we have a scenario for example where a child perhaps playing in the park or poking through the pantry gets a needle stick injury from used or contaminated drug paraphernalia left in the park or ingests something dangerous that they find on the ground or in the pantry. Somebody needs to take responsibility for managing safety."
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said she believed a more collaborative approach was needed.
"I don't believe in any situation particularly regarding human services and the most vulnerable in our community that a heavy handed regulatory approach is appropriate," she said. "We need to be much more sympathetic to the needs of all members of the community."