By Adriana Tsovleas, Eastern Suburbs Reporter
Exclusive: THE City of Bayswater has ordered the Shopfront in Maylands to stop providing food to homeless and disadvantaged people because of a permit technicality, sparking fears the organisation could be closed.
The Catholic Church organisation is run by about 100 volunteers and provides support, friendship, refuge and up until recently, food to these people in the community.
The organisation also received regular food donations from local Catholic schools, individuals and charities.
About 1500 people visit the centre each month and the numbers have peaked in recent months as a result of the economic crisis.
City of Bayswater chief executive Francesca Lefante said the city contacted the organisation last week because it did not have approval to serve food.
“The Shopfront has planning approval to operate a referral office to direct their clients to support agencies that can provide help and assistance,” she said.
“They can continue to operate as a referral centre, but they do not have and have never sought approval to act as a meal and food distribution centre.”
Ms Lefante said the city received complaints from neighbours about abusive behaviour, including drunkenness, foul language and threatening behaviour associated with the meal and food service and the city had to address the issues.
She said the city expected The Shopfront to comply with the terms of the current approvals in the mean time.
“They can apply for approval to operate the service and the council would then look at whether it would be appropriate to allow the service to operate in that location and from those premises,” she said.
The Shopfront has put signs up on the windows alerting people it can no longer serve food.
Maylands MLA Lisa Baker said she was aghast at the city's decision to cut off the food service from the Shopfront.
“It is terrible that the city has done this without consultation or a transitional arrangement,” she said.
“I have worked alongside the Shopfront volunteers and the people they are working with are not vagrants - most of them are families in crisis or people with mental health issues.
“I don't know what the city wants to achieve by being pedantic over a technicality when it means cutting off food from the people who rely on this valuable organisation.”
The Eastern Reporter spoke to several people from the Shopfront.
However, while preparing this story the newspaper was contacted by the same people, who asked that their comments to be withdrawn and for the paper to contact the Central Catholic Media Group.