Council will install nine new single seats on Fitzroy Street after the Mayor Heather Cunsolo proposed alternative locations away from areas associated with antisocial behaviour.
The seating will be one-person metal seats with armrests, a type commonly seen in the city of Melbourne (see location list below).
Desperate opposition
The plan to install the seating caused alarm amongst outspoken locals who saw seating as an attractor of anti-social loitering.
The opponents passionately opposed the seating as evidence of Council’s deaf ear to their concerns about drugs, crime and homophobic behaviour by the groups that gather on the street.
Top of their concerns were emails from senior local police opposed the seating.
A number of traders vehemently opposed seating, preferring a delay until the street amenity had improved. They told stories of violence and intimidation on an almost daily basis,
Seats are not the solution, nor are they the problem
Cr Bond (seconded by Cr Nyaguy) brought forward the motion to install the seating as a small part of the street’s recovery – not as a panacea.
He said that six or seven years ago most seating on the street was removed at the request of the police as way to fix anti-social problems on the street.
‘At the time Cr Baxter said the removing the seats wouldn’t fix a thing, and he’s been proven right,’ said Cr Bond.
‘This is a very minor seating proposal’ that responds to requests from the older persons committee for more seating along all high streets in the city, he said.
Locations changed to avoid ‘hot spots’
Steering the motion through, the Mayor proposed to remove seating from three locations that had the most opposition, namely adjacent to 77 Fitzroy St, CareMore Pharmacy; 107 Fitzroy St, Tom’s Liquor; 161 Fitzroy St, Anytime Fitness.
Mayor Cunsolo proposed alternative locations that were proactively supported by adjacent traders, namely: 135 Fitzroy Street, Alex Theatre; and 179 Fitzroy Street, Bar.ber.
The motion to install nine seats was ultimately approved unanimously.
Locations of proposed seating
3-5 Fitzroy St, Cleve Gardens – 2 x chairs
43 Fitzroy St, Chemist Warehouse – 2 x chairs
77 Fitzroy St, CareMore Pharmacy – no chairs, bike hoops to be added and the existing mushroom stools will be removed from this site
135 Fitzroy Street, Alex Theatre – 3 x chairs
179 Fitzroy Street, Bar.ber site – 2 x chairs
Opinion
This angst was never about seats
It’s about street camps on or around Fitzroy Street that persist and have persisted for decades and a perception that nothing is ever done about it.
Long time locals will remember that removing toilets at Cleve Gardens was going to be a fix; closing the Gatwick was going to be a fix; removing seating was going to be a fix; a multi-million dollar investment in the Pride Centre was going to be a fix; and better landscaping was going to be a fix.
In the language of tabloids, the street could be renamed Fixroy Street
But there’s an alternate narrative – never give up, never stop trying.
Council hasn’t given up on Fitzroy Street – and nor should they. Council has responded with local laws officers visiting almost daily, more rapid response clean-up crews, pressure washing of pavements and an outreach social work team.
Their new seating is part of a broader ‘high street’ plan with footpath repairs, lighting upgrades and street activation programs across the municipality.
They have recently voted to increase rates on empty retail properties to encourage landlords.
Traders have responded by giving a broad range of people more reasons to visit the street, such as the recent Round the World in a Night promo.
Mixed messages from Police
TWiSK has seen the emails from police opposing the seating. Yet the most senior local police have told council a different story in face-to-face meetings.
This is not helpful. Cleaning up Fitzroy Street will require a genuine team approach and a never give up attitude.
Our very dedicated, hard working but under resourced Police need to respond to these specific concerns:
What are they doing to address blatant street drug dealing and use on Fitzroy Street?
What are they doing about people breaching AVOs on Fitzroy Street?
What are they doing to increase perceptions of safety on Fitzroy Street?
Fair questions that they and the Government (including local MP Nina Taylor) need to answer.
