City of Perth council to decide on new Ruah Safe Night Space emergency shelter in Northbridge

The City of Perth council is set to make a decision on opening a Ruah Safe Night Space in Northbridge after it closed its East Perth shelter almost four months ago. The Safe Night Space for Women — run by Ruah, a not-for-profit community support service — would provide “safety and shelter” for “women in crisis” and would open on 247 James Street, the same facility as the existing Ruah Engagement Hub. Unlike the Engagement Hub, which connects people experiencing homelessness with support services, the Safe Night Space would operate from 7pm to 7am seven days a week, providing women with basic services including laundry, toilets and showers. Planning officers have now recommended Safe Night Space be permitted to run at the James Street site for 30 months, pointing out approving the service could give the city more power to enforce conditions. The advice is contained in documents prepared for Tuesday night’s agenda briefing session, ahead of councillors voting on Ruah’s application next week. “This space is for those who are in a situation of violence or escaping family domestic violence and with no other place to go, end up sleeping rough,” Ruah’s application reads. “The aim of the service is to provide a safe and culturally secure night space for women escaping violence or in situations of extreme vulnerability in Perth.” In November, the City of Perth closed Ruah’s Safe Night Space at the Rod Evans Centre in East Perth after its two-year trial came to an end. Three weeks before the planned closure the Cook Government offered $3.1 million to keep Safe Night Space operational but the lifeline was rejected, with Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas saying it came too late and a commitment had already been made to return the Rod Evans centre to the community. Ruah subsequently applied to shift Safe Night Space to its existing James Street hub, a site Mr Zempilas has said is unsuitable because of its location in the Northbridge entertainment precinct. “In the period prior to the closure of the Safe Night Space (at the Rod Evans Centre), just from the first of October until the end of November ... there were 24 incidents reported to the City of Perth into police; one assault, one damage, 11 disorderly reports or incidents, five that related to homelessness ... one requiring police action, three that were categorised as suspicious behaviour and one welfare check,” Mr Zempilas said at Tuesday night’s agenda briefing session. “In the two months that followed the closure of the Safe Night Space, there was one incident reported; a burglary. “When we had decided to close the Safe Night Space for Women (at the Rod Evans Centre), we were doing that on behalf of our community who had made it clear that that’s what they wanted.” Ruah CEO Deborah Zanella — who was one of the seven who gave deputations relating to the Safe Night Space at Tuesday night’s meeting — said Ruah had spoken to Perth residents and business owners, with 154 respondents “very supportive” of the James Street Safe Night Space. “City of Perth residents do care about women escaping violence, vulnerable women seeking shelter and safety, very clearly care,” Ms Zanella said. “Those who said they care were business owners in the City of Perth, commercial and not-for-profit (sectors), a district court judge and others in the legal profession in the City of Perth, people who work everyday in Northbridge or in Perth itself, doctors, social workers, mental health practitioners, nurses, residents in Northbridge and Perth, religious sisters, women escaping violence and seeking safe shelters. “City of Perth residents care deeply about what confronts vulnerable women escaping violence, from the registered nurse who used the Safe Night Spaces at the Rod Evans shelter because she was escaping violence to do her shifts during the day in the hospital, to the three women that were sexually abused in the surrounding parks after the closure of the Rod Evans Centre.” The City of Perth has also engaged in a 28-day community consultation period by contacting owners and occupiers which directly surround the James Street site. Of the 38 submissions, the city received 30 objections citing issues relating to crime, vandalism, loss of business and loss of amenity. Earlier this month Daniel Godoy, owner of Best Western Apartments which is across the road from Ruah on James Street, spoke on local radio claiming he had been forced to close his hotel because of the neighbouring homelessness centre. “You can see the difference between now and prior to Ruah being there. This area has become really confronting to go there every morning,” he said. “It is not the shelter itself that is the problem. It is the residents that do have issues with drug and alcohol issues and mental health issues that really make that area very, very confronting for many people.” In response to the hotel’s closure, Mr Zempilas took to Twitter saying it was a “sad day” for the community. “He (Mr Godoy) doesn’t attribute all of the blame for the closure on the antisocial issues caused by the Ruah drop-in centre across the road, but he does say that has caused him and his fellow business owners and operators enormous pain,” Mr Zempilas’ Tweet reads. “Daniel’s submission was one of many received by the City of Perth effectively saying ‘please don’t allow the Ruah drop in centre to come here, James Street is the wrong place, it will kill our business’. “In September 2022 we were overruled by the then planning minister on behalf of the WA Government who waived away our decision and our concerns and said the Ruah centre would open on James Street. “Daniel was right. It has killed his business. “It’s a sad day for our community and for a hard working businessman trying to do the right thing by Northbridge, the hospitality industry and his family.” But after reading Mr Zempilas’ Tweet, Ms Zanella said she had “little confidence” that an “impartial and reasonable approach” would be applied in the decision making of the James Street facility. “Laying blame at Ruah’s feet for anti-social behaviour, or the closure of business is entirely inappropriate, and as always, is at the expense of the most vulnerable within our community, and most often, women,” she said. Northbridge resident Sarah Smith, who lives on James Street and owns two local businesses, spoke at Tuesday night’s meeting and said antisocial behaviour on James Street had “skyrocketed” since Ruah’s Engagement Hub opened last March. “We have clients urinating at the front of our apartment, constantly fighting, screaming shouting and (undergoing) drug use,” Ms Smith said at Tuesday night’s meeting. “I no longer feel safe to walk alone and have to carry pepper spray and an alarm for my safety. “The only time that I still get to enjoy being located on James Street is when Ruah is shut on the afternoons and on the weekends as their clientele have moved on from the area. “I do feel extremely sorry for the women seeking refuge from domestic violence ... and I completely agree that they should and deserve to have a place that they can go to feel safe, but I don’t think that a small building in Northbridge on James Street is suitable for this.” Other James Street residents spoke at Tuesday night’s meeting and raised concerns about the lack of security outside of Ruah. A decision will be made at next week’s council meeting.