2018-03-06
The petition of certain citizens of the state of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council serious concerns regarding the approach being taken to the renewal of public housing by the Department of Health and Human Services at estates across Melbourne. In particular, development frameworks that disregard local contexts are being developed in order to attract private residential developers to purchase and develop public land with minimal increases in the number of public tenants housed as a result. In order to achieve the sale and subsequent overdevelopment of these significant sites, rezoning is proposed that will disenfranchise existing communities and tenants. Potential future productive public uses of these assets, including increased public housing, is being traded away even though the asset renewal issues being addressed have been apparent for many years and, so, should have been subject to normal, cyclical asset renewal funding. There is, as such, no compelling policy reason for the approach being taken nor justification for the associated large-scale transfer of public land to private ownership.
The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council support a motion requiring the Department of Health and Human Services and the state government to redesign the current public housing renewal project to ensure —
1) a more substantial public housing outcome;
2) no transfer of public land to private ownership; and
3) the protection of community interests through the retention of third-party appeal rights and local councils as the responsible planning authorities.
(117 signatures).