MEDIA RELEASE: Public And Affordable Housing Needs To Be Key In Waterloo Metro Development
NSW Greens Member for Newtown Jenny Leong, which covers the Redfern
area, and Jan Barham, Housing spokesperson have responded to today’s announcement that a private Metro station will be built in Waterloo highlighting the serious housing concerns.
Two thousand existing public housing residences will be demolished to make way for the development.
Member for Newtown Jenny Leong says:
“The announcement by the state Government today will see Urban Growth
taking over the development of large parts of our Redfern/Waterloo
public housing community. This is cause for serious concern – not
because redevelopment of public housing isn’t needed, but because Urban
Growth’s track record in our area has seen some pretty devastating
outcomes – including the selloff of the Australian Technology Park site
and massive proposed overdevelopment at North Eveleigh.
“While we acknowledge the Government’s commitment that the number of
social housing dwellings will be maintained in the new development, we
need to ensure that these dwellings will continue to house the same
number of residents.
“We have seen cases of redevelopment of public housing where the
number of dwellings has been maintained but with a significant reduction
in size. As a minimum we need a commitment that there will be no
reduction in the number of bedrooms or number of residents that can be
housed.
“Our community needs a significant investment in
affordable housing, which needs to come on top of any commitment to
maintain existing public housing.
“Reports suggesting two thirds of the redevelopment will be private
and one third social and affordable housing has the priorities wrong –
we need to see these figures reversed.
“Urban Growth might pull all the strings when it comes to decisions
made by the NSW Government but they do not control this community.
NSW Greens Spokesperson for Housing, Social Housing and Homelessness Jan Barham says:
“With almost 60,000 people on the waiting list for social housing in
NSW it’s not enough to maintain existing numbers of social housing
properties. The redevelopment around Waterloo is a prime opportunity to
provide more inner-city social housing, which allows people experiencing
disadvantage to live close to transport and with good access to
opportunities for work, education and support services.
“The private rental market in inner Sydney is simply out of reach for
people on low and moderate incomes, leaving too many essential workers
forced with long commutes and reduced quality of life. The windfall that
will come from the private residential components of this development
should allow the Government to allocate a higher percentage of the
dwellings to be affordable rental housing to accommodate more of these
key workers.
“It’s important that the design of this area promotes accessibility
and creates housing opportunities for people with disability and older
people, for whom much of the existing housing stock is inappropriate.
“Minister Hazzard’s assurance that existing residents will have the
opportunity to transition into new social housing in the area where
their life, services and social supports are based is welcome but must
be managed appropriately. It’s essential that the Government minimises
displacement and disruption for tenants and makes every effort to ensure
they maintain their community connections and aren’t forced to move far
away due to the lack of suitable housing nearby.”
Source: www.jennyleong.org/public_and_affordable_housing_needs_to_be_key_in_waterloo_metro_development