Martin Place Community Homeless Kitchen Shut Down For Vivid

Multiple services for Sydney’s homeless community, including a community kitchen, have been shut out of their regular operating space to make way for a Vivid installation.

As per The Guardian, the Alfresco Community Kitchen has been running regular meals and community meetups in Martin Place on Tuesdays and every second Sunday for years. They’re often joined by additional services, providing the locals with medical services and clean, dry clothing.

On Monday, organiser Carly Hall received an email from the City of Sydney informing her that the kitchen would have to move to make space for a Vivid installation.

Seen by CityHub, the email said services would be affected between Friday 23 March and Sunday 5 June. However, when organisers arrived on Tuesday morning, the area the kitchen usually works out of had been cordoned off in preparation for the Vivid installation, three days before they were told access would be affected.

Vivid has not impacted services operating out of Martin place in previous years.

Hall said that while they were able to serve food nearby on Tuesday evening, regular patrons saw the usual space was blocked off and left, with only half of the expected 150-200 people attending that night.

“We can’t get the word out,” she said. “So even though [the City of Sydney] can whip around and email all the other vendors, there’s no chance that we can convey that information to anybody.”

While the council suggested alternative meeting places, organisers are concerned about accessibility, especially for those who were elderly, disabled, or had young children.

Hall said the proximity to a train station was also vital.

“There are lots of lots of elderly train sleepers who come to eat,” Hall said. “They sleep on the train because it’s warm and safe.

“The other thing about serving right next to an installation is that a lot of our community aren’t comfortable being around crowds because of the way that they’re often treated.”

For some people who attend Martin Place, the meetup is the only space where they connect to their community.

“We don’t expect the world to grind to a halt for our community kitchen, but we do expect that the most vulnerable among us are not stopped from receiving basic their basic needs.

“Perhaps we if we had a month’s notice… we could have actually given flyers to people with a map to say, ‘this is what’s happening, this is where we’ll serve you’. But there’s no time for that.”

While organisers are not scheduled to next serve food until Sunday, they are scrambling to find alternative ways for the community to access their services.

State and City pass blame back and forth

On Thursday afternoon, Greens Councillor Matthew Thompson said someone had “screwed this up”.

“This is cruel outcome that could’ve been avoided. Pushing aside a community kitchen that has operated for 15 years in Martin for a state sponsored commercial festival? With only a couple days notice? It’s not good enough.

“Sydney’s homeless deserve support and dignity — instead, their community kitchen is being moved on to make way for some flashy lights and hordes of tourists.

“We’ve got thousands sleeping rough, countless more unable to afford food, and instead of doing more we’re moving on a key lifeline for them.”

Thompson added that the Greens would be moving in the next council meeting to review how public space for community services and the increasing number of rough sleepers could be protected.

Speaking to CityHub, a spokesperson from Destination NSW said they were only made aware of the issue on Wednesday 21 May, following advice from the City of Sydney.

“We recognise and deeply respect the important work Alfresco Community Kitchen’s do for vulnerable members of the community.”

“Destination NSW received development approval for Vivid Sydney’s Martin Place activation from the City of Sydney in early April. In line with standard event planning processes, local stakeholder engagement is managed through the City of Sydney.”

However, in a statement on social media about the story, Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore said that while the City approved a request from the state government to host attractions for Vivid in Martin place, they were not the ones to install the blockades.

“To keep everyone safe during the month-long event, expected to draw massive crowds, the State Government is enforcing road closures and installing pedestrian barriers,” she said.

“That means operators or vehicles not associated with the event won’t be able to access Martin Place, and will be turned away by event security and NSW Police.”

Moore said that while understood the frustration for organisers, “Homelessness support and food relief are not local government responsibilities.”

“The City works tirelessly to meet all its responsibilities – providing more food relief and homelessness support than any other council, and providing sites for community events like Vivid, which are also really important.”

Organisers had also been contacted by the office of Rose Jackson, NSW minister for housing and homelessness, who said they were “aware and upset” of the developments.