By Mark Heenan
MARIBYRNONG City Council says a twelve-month trial by Footscray Police to stamp out heroin distribution and ban drug addicts won’t necessarily end drug use in the region.
And mayor Janet Rice vented her frustration towards police last week pointing out that council wasn’t consulted over details of the plan.
Project Reduction involves police asking courts to ban from the streets dealers and users who are caught and who don’t live in Maribyrnong.
“We absolutely had no consultation on the matter, and we’re disappointed about that,” Cr Rice said.
“The first I heard about it was when I got a call from 3AW on the issue.”
Cr Rice believed it was unrealistic to think a drug ban could work simultaneously in all Maribyrnong suburbs.
And she said she feared the problem could spread into nearby municipalities.
“I think there are problems on how it’s going to work.
“You can’t get it in all the suburbs at the same time, and drug users may move into other regions like Brimbank,” Cr Rice said.
“It might work for some people in Footscray and if you move it somewhere else in the region, but (there is no guarantee) it’s going to be the right option.”
The ban started on Saturday and covers suburbs Footscray, Braybrook, Yarraville, Maidstone, Tottenham, Seddon, Kingsville, West Footscray and Maribyrnong.
But Senior Sergeant Dave Byrt of Victoria Police denied they had deliberately kept the Maribyrnong Council ‘out of the loop’.
“It’s unfair to say we haven’t consulted with the local council,” he said.
“We consult with the council continually on many different levels and many different project teams and group,” he said.
“And in relation to this particular situation it’s an operational base decision that simply formalises a process that we’ve had in place through the Bail Act for many years.”
A six-month evaluation by Victoria Police found offenders who committed more than sixty percent of crimes in the municipality were not Maribrynong residents.
Youth Worker Les Twentyman of Open Family Australia feared the high unemployment rate could lead to higher drug activity in the region.
“I can understand the Police’s frustration (but) the reality is Maribyrnong area and Footscray in particular has one of the worst unemployment rates in Australia,” he said.
If Project Reduction is successful it could be introduced into Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs including Richmond and Springvale.
