Relocating Springvale’s controversial syringe-vending machine may not be the solution to strong community concerns, according to a former mayor.
Local leaders are organising a petition to remove the 24/7 syringe vending machine from a Buckingham Avenue community health service as syringes and needles are found on public footpaths, at the doorstep of businesses and also on the grounds of St Joseph Primary School located directly in front of the facility.
Greater Dandenong ex-mayor Roz Blades says she understands the community concern but a re-location is not the solution.
She says the idea behind the program is to keep the needles off the ground but if that’s not working, there needs to be a change in its model.
“They put it in the area of the most need I guess. I would think they can make modification to the model they’ve introduced to alleviate the concerns of the residents.
“People think drug addicts want to get sick – they don’t.
“The problem won’t go away if the facility goes away. You have to come up with another idea.”
During her time at the council, she assisted the Department of Health to set-up needle-exchange services at a time when the area was infected with drug issues and syringes in public places.
Springvale was nicknamed ‘Heroin City’ during its epidemic era.
Speaking of finding syringes in public places, Ms Blades says “that’s always been the case years ago, that never changes.”
“We had children at the reserve sitting on needles and we got it fixed. We hired staff, we put a lot of efforts into it.
“We don’t have the problem of syringes in the park anymore – it took me four years for the program to be introduced and it proved to be successful.
“So, if the problems reoccurring it needs to be investigated. If you take away the facility you still have the problem.”
She urges residents to hold conversations with MPs, senior advisors at Monash Health, council and also Victoria Police.
“Nothing’s more important than the safety of our residents, children and schools. You have to feel safe where you live and they don’t.
“A lot of my works came out of sheer and total collaboration with people.”
St Joseph Primary School is located directly in front of the drug services site and have had to tolerate drug-related behaviour in the community for decades.
Deputy school principal Alan Brew has highlighted the school’s pushback against these services in the past.
“Historically, former principal Mr Richard Hodgson worked with both the church and government in the late 1990s to close a needle exchange program operating in our area.
“Unfortunately, it appears that a mobile exchange unit was reintroduced in 2005 without proper consultation or community notice.
“It was later housed in the Community Health Centre, and we noted several distressing incidents there which required police involvement.
“In recent years, the program transitioned again — this time into a 24/7 needle dispensing machine — and this has coincided with a marked increase in public safety concerns around our school.”
He expressed concerns of such “significant decisions” made with during holiday periods when community engagement is limited.
