‘Tricky situation’: Sydney commuter car park to be deep cleaned after homeless evicted

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The state government has ordered a deep clean of a busy commuter car park in Sydney’s southwest after months of increasing community concern about an encampment of homeless people living in the building.

The top three floors of the Warwick Farm commuter car park, which allows drivers to park for free before catching a train at the station next door, have become a no-go zone for drivers over the past three months as an increasing number of people have lived in the stairwells and upper storeys.

Rubbish strewn in front of the lifts and stairwell at Warwick Farm Commuter Car Park.

But residents have raised concerns about safety after not being able to access the fire escapes and witnessing drug use. All three stairwells in the building are covered in syringes, faeces and rotting food scraps, as well as mattresses, blankets and pieces of furniture. On parking levels, microwaves have been ripped apart and strewn across the floor, as well as hoses from fire hydrants.

“It is a really tricky situation,” said Charishma Kaliyanda, the state Labor MP for the area, who has been fielding concerns from residents about increasingly aggressive behaviour from about 10 to 12 people living in the stairwells.

“Sleeping rough is not a crime, and in the middle of winter [when the issues began, we wanted to] treat people with compassion,” she said. “We are looking at a public space. You want to ensure that a commuter car park people are using every day is safe and accessible.

“We’ve seen it expand over time. When we were initially told about there being rough sleepers in the commuter car park, it was contained.”

But as the months have gone on, the situation has worsened. Shopping trolleys full of rubbish, ranging from sex toys to old cereal boxes to Zimmer frames, have been thrown around and dumped across parking spaces.

Late in August, the Transport Asset Manager, the government body responsible for the state’s rail assets, issued a notice to vacate to people on the property, informing them they were “currently illegally occupying the property” and had to remove themselves and their possessions by September 19.

On Saturday, cleaners will remove the waste and embark on a deep clean of the site.

Homeless given support

Homes NSW is providing temporary accommodation to some living on the site, but some were ineligible for support or rejected the offer. James Newell, regional manager for homeless and housing at the St Vincent de Paul Society, said the charity had also provided temporary accommodation to three people on the site, as well as food vouchers, warm clothes and referrals for support, as well as housing.

The last census data estimated more than 2500 people were homeless in the Liverpool council area in 2021. Newell said the rate had risen substantially since the pandemic.

“We’re seeing people who are experiencing homelessness for the first time,” he said. “We’ve had dual-income families come through who are unable to pay the rent because rents are so extortionate in Sydney. It can really happen to anyone.”