Town walks fine line between helping vulnerable and enabling a drug sub-culture

Ian Black: “We have to have an understanding that they are part of society and we need to try and help them somehow”.

A local real estate agent says Nambour was struggling to balance the responsibility of sharing the burden when it came to helping vulnerable people and not becoming a honey pot for illegal activity.

Day & Grimes Principal Ian Black said drugs, alcohol and mental health issues were a world-wide problem. And Nambour certainly did its fair share when it came to social issues.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing now, Australia-wide, worldwide, a lot of people who, for whatever their circumstances have brought them to that level, are really now struggling to survive,” he said. 

“And as a result of that, their survival story brings with it a lot of things which ... a lot would regard as being socially unacceptable. And they really don’t want them as part of our community. 

“And that’s understandable. But I think at the end of the day, what we need to do is focus more on opportunities for them to improve their lives rather than just move them on to somewhere else.”

Mr Black said Nambour needed to pull its weight but not encourage and support a permanent area where criminal activity, like drug dealing and drug use, would proliferate.

“Nambour provides a lot of help in the area of social responsibility for people who are finding things difficult,” he said.

“And I think in that sense, this is where Nambour has become a favourite for a lot of these people where they can get meals, they can get showers, they can get some counselling. 

“But of course, there are those who are not looking to help themselves for whatever reason. 

“And these are the ones that – and they’re in a minority – these are the ones that are giving us the trouble we have. 

“And because some of them are unsightly because of the way they dress and their general appearance, people feel a little unsafe, particularly the females in our community. 

“And a lot of them do speak very loudly. They use profanities. 

“All these things are not helpful whatsoever to the image of Nambour. But we have to have an understanding that they are part of society and we need to try and help them somehow.”