Everyone can have a home says expert

By Callan Date
MORE than 100 people gathered in Cranbourne on Tuesday to hear about the plight of homeless people on the urban fringe.
The Housing Stress and Homelessness on the Urban Fringe Forum was organised by the City of Casey and featured several prominent speakers on topics ranging from housing affordability to housing stress and homelessness.
The day was part of an ongoing campaign by Casey councillor Paul Richardson and his bid to highlight the issues of homelessness in the region.
Cr Richardson was joined by mayor Colin Butler and fellow councillors Kevin Bradford and Michael Farley at the event which also attracted officials from the many social support organisations in Casey.
Cranbourne Information and Support Service, Casey North Community Information and Support Service and Peninsula Community Legal Centre were just three of the organisations which attended.
“I was extremely happy with the housing stress and homeless forum and how it all went,” Cr Richardson said.
“It was very well organised and it was an excellent achievement by Tracey Ridoni who organised the event with the help of the committee,” he said.
David Imber of the Tenants Union of Victoria, associate professor Chris Chamberlain from RMIT University and Darren Ray of the Victorian Local Governance Association also spoke about various aspects of housing stress and homelessness.
“When we are talking about the homeless issue it affects everybody.
“All three tiers of government have a responsibility to make sure we don’t have any homeless at all,” Cr Richardson said.
Cr Richardson said the finding from the day would be tabulated and presented to the council at a later date.