MAYORS WARY TO COMMIT OVER INJECTING ROOMS

Mayors throughout NSW have voiced stern reservations about allowing
injecting rooms into their areas.

The caution and, in some cases, outright opposition, follows a vow by the
Mayor of Fairfield, Councillor Chris Bowen, that no development application
for an injecting room would be approved by his council in the heroin trouble
spot of Cabramatta.

The Mayor of Dubbo, Cr Tony McGrane, said any application to get a room in
his area had a "100-1 against" chance of succeeding.

On the North Coast, any application to have an injecting room in Nimbin,
another troublespot, would face strong opposition from sections of the
community and councillors, said the Mayor of Lismore, Cr Ros Irwin, yesterday.

The Drug Summit recommended last week that medically supervised injecting
rooms, approved by local government, but based on public consultation,
should be permitted. Cr McGrane said yesterday: "My council would reject it.
It's a very superficial solution for the people who need help."

But the Local Government Association's president, Concord Mayor, Cr Peter
Woods, accused those opposing the injecting rooms of hysteria.

He said it may be that the initial trialling of injecting rooms would
include only "two or three" rooms. "No-one is pushing for them to be
introduced in every community across the State," he said.

He believed his own council, Concord, would reject an application. "There
should be a trial of safe injecting rooms in the areas where local
government and their communities support the trial," he said.

These would be areas where the problem was greatest and the councils wanted
to do something about it.

"In most areas in NSW, it's not a huge problem," Cr Woods said.

The Mayor of Bathurst, Cr Ian Macintosh, said his council would probably
look at what nearby centres such as Lithgow and Orange were doing if faced
with a development application for an injection room.

The Lord Mayor of Newcastle, Cr Greg Heys, said, with 35 young people dead
from overdoses in his city last year, there might be community support in an
area such as Islington for an injecting room.

"I think it may happen. I really want to go through a community consultation
process," he said.

Last week, South Sydney's Mayor, Cr Vic Smith, said he would welcome an
injecting room into his area and Campbelltown's Mayor, Cr Paul Sinclair,
said councils should think responsibly on the issue.

Cr Woods would not be drawn yesterday into a debate on what problems
councils might encounter in the event of local opposition to permanent
injecting rooms following trials.

"I think that's going too far down the track. If you're having a trial, you
have a trial. Then you evaluate it," he said.