Salvation Army shuts Footscray's Lighthouse Cafe after five months, citing overwhelming demand

The cafe opened on May 20 with then-premier Jacinta Allan among the speakers, offering free meals to vulnerable people and connecting them to local support services. The state government invested $950,000, which Footscray Labor MP Katie Hall said would keep it running for a couple of years.

Salvation Army leader Brendan Nottle said an average of 170 people, and at peak 215, had visited daily, well above the 60-odd the service expected. Concern about people crowding the small space forced the closure, he said. Unlike its predecessor, the Magpie Nest Cafe on Bourke Street, the Lighthouse had no commercial kitchen or bathrooms.

"To be honest, we've been overwhelmed by the numbers of people coming in," Nottle said. "We're looking for a site that obviously gives us more room to run the cafe for more people, but also space to co-locate with other services ... but we haven't been able to find another location."

Nottle denied that neighbouring businesses' concerns about antisocial behaviour had prompted the closure. Some had reported increased violence and drug and alcohol use after the Lighthouse opened. "For every concern that was raised, we would have had at least three or four people coming to us saying they really appreciated the model," he said. "We went into that area because of antisocial behaviour. So, we were there to support people that were really struggling."

Some locals had objected to the location opposite Footscray Plaza when it opened, saying it would bring more disorder to the central shopping district, and say the closure proves them right. Phil Gaby, operator of Nan's Bakehouse, which supports rough sleepers and vulnerable people in Footscray, called it "another failed experiment" for the suburb at taxpayers' expense. "I would never use that much funding for a busy cafe ... That's a staggering amount of money," he said. "The real people that are actually doing stuff are the ones doing it out of their own pockets."

Khartoum City Cafe owner Hamada Ahmed, who had previously threatened to sue over the cafe's location, said he was glad to see it move out, saying it made the area feel crowded and volatile. Maribyrnong City Council had stepped up its help for local businesses, he said, but "I hope they open somewhere far from the CBD business".

Newport residents Emily Carroll and Natalija Nikolovska, who do their grocery shopping in central Footscray, were among those who saw the cafe as a positive for the area. It had always been busy, Carroll said.

Footscray Community Response spokesperson Shifrah Blustein said what the cafe had provided for five months "is miles away from meeting the need in Footscray". "But people sleeping rough are nevertheless describing its sudden closure as devastating and something that will make their lives much harder," she said. After a million-dollar investment and photo opportunities for politicians, the closure suggested "PR mattered more than real support", Blustein said.

Maribyrnong Mayor Mohamed Semra said the council looked forward to The Salvation Army reopening the Lighthouse Cafe "as soon as they can".

Most of the service's workers, with three social workers intended to staff the cafe from Monday to Friday between 10am and 4pm, would be redeployed to other roles, Nottle said. He did not disclose how much of the $950,000 was left after five months of operation, saying only that the service was "tracking well financially".