A 70-YEAR-OLD homeless man beaten as he slept and another camp closed down. These are the stories of the people who used to live at Tent City.

It’s just over a fortnight since laws were changed and authorities moved in to provide a “helping hand” to remove what some said was Sydney’s biggest eyesore — a camp of homeless people in Martin Place in Sydney’s CBD.

The problem, supporters said, wasn’t so much that it was eyesore. It was the fact that it was very visible evidence a homeless problem governments wanted to ignore.

But with the Tent City and it’s 24 hour kitchen and ‘safe space’ now gone, self-proclaimed former “mayor” of the camp, Lanz Priestley, says those who spent time there have had mixed fortunes.

He claims at least a dozen homeless people have been assaulted on Sydney’s streets in the past week, the latest on Monday night, when a 70-year-old homeless man sleeping alone in The Domain was beaten as he slept, about 1am.

The man was rolled up in his sleeping bag, unable to escape. It was held closed as the kicks and punches rained down, and his attackers stole his possessions, including his mobile phone.

“They stole his blankets — what on earth were they going to do with his blankets?” Priestley said.

“He was found about 5am. He needed medical attention, but he’s no fan of hospitals, so some ambulance officers saw him and treated him. He’s got no broken bones but he’s covered in bruises. We’ve found him some temporary accommodation with a friend so he’s safe.”

The man, who was a regular at Tent City, had been offered emergency housing accommodation by FACS, but was unable to take it up because of visa problems, Priestley claimed.

“He’s been here since he was five years old, but when there were problems with his paperwork, and visa he just didn’t take up the offer.”

Priestley says the man is one of several homeless people who have ben assaulted since Tent City broke up on August 10.

“There have been a few people robbed, a few people beaten up. People aren’t safe on the streets as they sleep.”

When the camp was disbanded, Mr Priestley said it numbered 60 regular residents, 12 of whom had ended up back on the streets.

But he says if “drop-ins” who used the venue for food and as a safe place to rest rather than permanent residents are added, more than 100 people who were using tent city continue to sleep rough.

He said there was anecdotal evidence homeless people were opting to sleep alone rather than search for the safety of a group, amid fears that groups would be “harassed by police”.

SECOND CAMP CLEARED OUT

Meanwhile, Belmore Park, a second homeless camp near Sydney’s Central Station, was cleared out by authorities a week ago.

Priestley said some of the Martin Place residents had tried to move their possessions to Belmore Park, but the camp was dismantled.

In a video post to his Facebook site, Priestly said Family and Community Services had claimed the number of Belmore Park residents to be in single figures, but he had been told more than 20 people had been moved on.

FACS had offered temporary accommodation leading to permanent accommodation, but “some of the guts clearly weren’t eligible and got left behind”.

FACS said it had run an outreach service over a number of days, accompanied by police, which offered 58 residents temporary or permanent housing and 32 had accepted.

But Priestley disputed claims that the homeless people had voluntarily moved on after discussions with authorities.

“I’ve talked to several people who were at Belmore Park who were woken up out of their tents by police and removed and told ‘you can’t have your gear’ and had their tents thrown on a truck to be taken away.

He fears the next target will be another informal homeless camp at Wentworth Park, where a handful of Martin Place homeless have joined about 20 long-term ‘residents’ — will be the next target for a clean-out.

“I was at Glebe a couple of days ago and there are about 20 people there, but I think it will be the next where people are moved on,”

“It will soon come under scrutiny because authorities just want homeless out of Sydney city,” he said.

HOMES FOR MANY

Homelessness NSW chief executive, Katherine McKernan, says 200 people from Martin Place and Belmore Park have been housed or are in hotels or motels awaiting permanent housing.

Priestley said he believes about 80 of them are established in long-term housing, and he and other volunteers have spent the past few days delivering furniture so their new homes are fully furnished thanks to donations.

“We’ve spent the past few days moving them in,” he said.

He said while many people had been placed into found long-term housing, he believed Tent City’s biggest achievement was it allowed others to get themselves off the street.

“They were largely the new people on the street,” he said.

“They had somewhere relatively safe to sleep that wasn’t charging them, food for free, that kind of stuff. They engaged only superficially with us.

“Two thirds of the people that went through Tent City in some form (and there were hundreds) didn’t have any help from us, didn’t have any help from any other organisations. All they needed to do was save what money they have coming in and patch the holes up that they had fallen through.

“In terms getting social housing, yes, we got a lot of long term people that, but the best result was the ability for short-term homeless to get themselves back on track.

“For me, there’s nothing more empowering for a person than to be able to sort their own s**t out.”