By KATH GANNAWAY
Drug rehabilitation centre refused planning permission…
INFORMATION obtained under Freedom of Information legislation from Victoria Police has convinced Yarra Ranges councillors that Warburton township is not the place for a Narconon drug rehabilitation centre.
At its meeting on Tuesday 11 March councillors refused a planning permit to pave the way for Get Off Drugs Naturally (GODN) to move its Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in East Warburton to Green Gables in the heart of the town.
The council deferred a decision on the application at its December meeting asking the applicant to present a comprehensive risk strategy after the Say No to Narconon objectors group and Warburton police raised concerns about community safety.
Say No to Narconon spokeswoman Lindy Schneider spoke at Tuesday’s meeting presenting information provided to her group under a Freedom of Information request.
Ms Schneider summarised the information detailing more than 33 incidents relating to violent and psychotic behaviours, alleged drug and alcohol use in as least six of the cases, property damage, threats to kill staff and physical assaults.
“The FoI shows that the capacity Narconon has in applying their own procedures and policies cannot be relied on by the community,” she said.
She said the planned increase in patient numbers should Narconon set up at Green Gables would be expected to further increase the incident rate, multiplying the risk to public safety.
She said relying on local police and emergency services was not an adequate plan and that the FoI made it clear that ambulances were not allowed to go in to Narconon without a police escort, there could be delays of up to two hours delays for police with Warburton only a 16-hour station.
Warburton police Sergeant Tom Wilkinson also spoke and said while Narconon addressed an important community need, the Green Gables location was not appropriate.
He said the isolation at East Warburton had masked some of the problems.
“A number of issues are resolved in the time it takes to walk down to the gate and that would not be available if they were close to town,” he said
Simon Merrigan from Millar Merrigan represented the applicant and said increased security and changes in the way Narconon dealt with people wanting to leave the facility addressed many of the concerns of objectors.
He said there were more than 40 Narconon facilities worldwide and, from his knowledge, none had the level of security proposed for Green Gables.
GODN executive director Andrew Cunningham was called in to answer questions from councillors about staff qualifications to deal with violent behaviour, security, accreditation and accountability and direct benefits to the local community from Narconon.
Cr Callanan questioned the discrepancy between a statement made by Narconon’s Dr Nerida James at the previous council meeting where she said she knew of only two or three events where police had been called when the FoI told a different story.
Mr Cunningham said Dr James may not have had all the information but that changes had been made.
In response to a question about Narconon’s ability to offer services to local addicts he said: “We are a charity and what we offer is a school program.”
He said of the 27 students, two were local on scholarships.
Pressed by Cr Jim Child on accreditation, Mr Cunningham conceded GODN was not regulated by any outside body.
A number of councillors voiced their support for the service Narconon provides and its “good intentions” but said they still had concerns about the risk to the community and were disappointed with the three-page risk strategy presented to the council.
Moving the recommendation to refuse a permit, Cr Child said the council was dealing with issues around risk, operations, community and public safety and amenity.
He rejected the claim that Narconon was an education centre and said unacceptable safety risks were his main concern.
“The risk management plan is not there – there is no accreditation, no regulation – this can’t be established in the urban surrounds of Warbuton,” he said.
The council has resolved to work with GODN to establish a suitable location for the facility.
Mr Merrigan told the Mail last week that no decision had been made as to whether to appeal against the council’s decision at VCAT.
