Safe Night Space for women reopening in Northbridge within says after resolution approved
The Perth Safe Space for Women has been a political hot potato for more than six-months, but an end is finally in sight with governments final planning approvals for the service. It is now set to re-open within days, with the government doing away with some of the conditions imposed by the City of Perth.
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00:00This long and drawn out story starts here in mid-2021, when a trial Safe Night Space
00:08for Women opened its doors with funding and use of this community centre from the city
00:13of Perth. For two and a half years it provided shelter to dozens of vulnerable women each
00:18night with nowhere else to go. But at the end of November, the council wanted its building
00:23back. The state government tried to step in with funding, but it was too late to change
00:28the council's mind. After the closure, Lord Mayor Basil Zemplis suggested a different
00:33provider could take over the service.
00:36Please provide that money to Uniting WA and this service can be open by Christmas.
00:41But the state government wouldn't fund it. With no solution that had both funding and
00:45a location, the service was forced to close.
00:52At the end of February, council gave planning approval for the service to reopen here in
00:56Northbridge, but with a number of conditions which had to be met to the satisfaction of
01:01the city. Uncertainty about what exactly that meant was a key sticking point.
01:06I just have this absolute overwhelming concern that this is a process to by stealth shut
01:13us down.
01:14Rua applied to the State Administrative Tribunal for review before the case was called in by
01:18the planning minister John Carey, who handed it to cabinet colleague Amber Jade Sanderson
01:23to avoid the perception of a conflict. Three months later, she's decided the service can
01:27open with less onerous conditions. The minister didn't hold back, blaming the Lord Mayor for
01:33the delay.
01:34Basil Zemplis and the City of Perth made it go through an unnecessary planning process
01:40and then put in conditions that were untenable.
01:44Both sides have used the saga to score political points for the last seven months now, as vulnerable
01:50women have been forced to look elsewhere for a safe place to stay.
01:54They come to us in a time of absolute crisis, with vulnerability and risk and nowhere else
01:59to go.
02:00Within days, they'll have that safe space again to come off the streets and out of violent
02:06homes.