The ongoing closure of a once-popular hinterland campsite has shone a light on the rising number of vulnerable people in parts of the region.
Posts on the website Anycamp have been made asking why the Belli Creek Park Rest Area, 11km northwest of Eumundi, is still closed after nearly two years, and when it will be open.
Website reviews say it was a busy and, at times, noisy campsite with some “permanent residents” believed to be living there.
The campsite is operated by the Sunshine Coast Council and when it was open offered free short-term camping. It was pet friendly and had toilets, phone reception and walking trails.
Access to the Belli Creek head trail is located at the back of the rest area. The hiking trail leads into the Mapleton Forest Reserve and onto the Point Glorious lookout.
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson confirmed it closed Belli Creek Park to camping activities on August 26, 2021, when some individuals and families were sleeping rough in the campsite.
“This area was closed to camping and recreational caravan use due to negative environmental impacts this activity caused to the rest area and surrounding properties,” the spokesperson said.
“Council was aware of the potential impacts this closure would have on campers who did not have alternative accommodation at the time.
“Council worked with these campers as well as housing providers and support services to help with the relocation process and provide contact information for suitable accommodation and local support services who could assist.”
This included the Maroochydore Housing Service Centre Department of Housing, the Salvation Army and Centrelink.
When Sunshine Coast News asked council when the campsite would be reopened to the public, it did not respond.
A Department of Housing spokesperson confirmed the government body assisted four people at Belli Creek Park prior to its closure, by providing advice and referrals to support services.
“We’re committed to helping people experiencing homelessness or housing stress, and provide assistance like social housing, help to obtain or maintain a rental in the private market and helping people who are experiencing homelessness access emergency accommodation,” the spokesperson said.
“Anyone who needs housing assistance is encouraged to contact the 24/7 Homeless Hotline on 1800 474 753, or their local Housing Service Centre.”
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Salvation Army Noosa-Coolum mission leader Matt Gluyas said the Belli Park and Eumundi community were supported by Salvos services, as part of its wider service of the Sunshine Coast region’s greater north.
“Here in our centre in Noosaville … at least five families come from that Belli Park Rest Area that we’ve supported in the closure of it,” he said.
“That’s been through them accessing our first-response team – our team that responds first to those in crisis and homelessness. That might be by organising accommodation for the short-term, but then also working with them in terms of case work to seek long-term accommodation.
“But as we all know, across the Coast here, there’s just no housing available.
“What has been short-term accommodation is now rolled into duration of need, which is an issue more and more.”
While it is difficult to determine exactly how many people the homelessness crisis impacts, the most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates an estimated 122,494 people in Australia were experiencing homelessness at the time of the 2021 Census.
This was an increase of 6067 people (5.2 per cent) since 2016.
Of that number, it was estimated 1380 people on the Sunshine Coast were homeless at the 2021 Census, with this expected to be significantly more in 2023.
Mr Gluyas said the number of vulnerable people in the region’s north was “probably over a thousand now”.
“That’s because of the amount of people we see who are homeless,” he said.
“The numbers are hard to gauge, but gone are the days where you could times those numbers by two or three – now it’s times them by seven or eight.
“The amount of people we are seeing coming to use our services, who have never accessed them before, has increased rapidly.
“I would call it the new working poor. It’s people who are holding jobs down and trying to still do life, while experiencing hopelessness and now homelessness.
“We are seeing that become the image more and more – and my understanding is with the Belli Park situation, that would be some of picture there. But it’s also beyond there, it’s the picture all across the Noosa Shire.”
He said about 100 to 150 people were currently accessing the Noosa and Coolum Salvos centres each week.
“That would be for emergency food relief, so produce, and for financial assistance, budgeting, homeless support and family violence services,” he said.
He said the Noosa and Coolum Salvos centres had assisted more than 100 people doing it tough with tangible and practical supports in the last 12 months.
“It’s just a constant tension of helping people within that state of homelessness, but also trying to prevent it as well and to catch before they hit that,” he said.
He said the key Salvos services offered to the region’s north included its family violence service, refuge and homelessness support, and emergency relief services, which included financial assistance and food relief.
“We often say like it takes a village to raise a child and I’d say it takes a community to solve the crisis,” he said.
“It’s come to the point where it’s all of us needing to be the solution. There’s a real heart to collaborate and work together to be the solution here on the Coast.”
Get in touch with your local Salvos by visiting salvationarmy.org.au.
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb.
