They say they have had enough of going home wondering if a homeless person will survive the night. “I have never seen so many people sleeping on the street in my life and I have been in the sector for 42 years,” Ms Clarke says. When Channel Nine bought the Gatwick for $10 million for the location of season 14 of The Block which starts on August 5, St Kilda Community Housing found long-term alternative accommodation for its residents. The landmark Fitzroy St building has been renovated for the new season of Channel 9 program The Block. Credit:Simon Schluter But Ms Clarke said some former Gatwick residents had returned to the area either because they couldn’t afford their new housing or because homelessness services are concentrated in St Kilda.

“Eight people who used to live in the Gatwick now sleep in the 7-Eleven opposite where they used to live,” says homelessness support worker Donna. In March radio host Kate Langbroek complained about the violence around the Regal boarding house on Little Grey Street after she was injured in an attack on her home. She told her radio listeners that dangerous behaviour had become more rampant in St Kilda ever since residents of the Gatwick Hotel were moved into nearby public housing. Soon after Housing Minister Martin Foley announced 28 residents at the Regal would be rehoused, with the government spending $6 million to convert the building into accommodation for older disadvantaged women. Keith, who lives in a tent next to Luna Park, said there were more people sleeping rough in St Kilda since the Gatwick closed. Keith has been homeless for 20 years and would periodically stay at the Gatwick.

“The services just want to send me to Redan [Apartments] but I won't go there, it's not safe,” he said. “There are more people using in alleyways and leaving syringes around in the street." Despondent after the death of another of their clients who had been sleeping rough, Ms Clarke formed SWAG, a coalition of community sector workers who say the housing system is broken. At 1pm on Sunday they will hold an “action” outside the Gatwick, which coincides with both the day of the first episode of The Block and is on the eve of Homelessness Week. SWAG, which stands for Support Workers Action Group but also serves to remind that a swag is not a home, is calling on the State Government to end the “round them up, move them on mentality”. It says the government is wasting money putting the homeless up in unsafe, uninhabitable motels and should instead buy the old boarding houses and turn them into long-term, affordable housing with support services.

Ms Clarke produces a list of accommodation that has closed including Fawkner Mansions, Elwood Sands, Half Moon, Bethel emergency housing and Meryula. “Our biggest issue is that SWAG wants to see no more of this housing lost. The government needs to buy up these options,” Ms Clarke says. She points to Elizabeth Street Common Ground, a partnership with Yarra Community Housing, the Victorian Property Fund, the Victorian and federal governments and Grocon, as an example of permanent, affordable housing for those who have been homeless for more than 10 years. On The Block Shop website, the show’s host, Scott Cam, said a lot of people were recognising the fact that they were changing a big piece of St Kilda. “We always love playing a part in that; changing buildings that have been a bit of an eyesore, or a bane on the area," he said.

“We transform those sorts of things, and the community is always pretty grateful.” Meanwhile, The Block has reportedly bought Oslo Hotel, a St Kilda backpackers and boarding house, for the 2019 season. Mr Foley, who is also the local MP, said his government was “serious about reducing homelessness". "The Andrews Labor Government has invested more than any other government in upgrading quality, social housing run, rooming house right across Melbourne," he said. “This includes more than $12 million renovating and converting St Kilda’s Elanara and the Regal into self-contained apartments, which is considered the best model for residents pathway to a better life.

“We’ve also provided additional funding for outreach workers in the St Kilda area to connect rough sleepers with housing and other support services.”