Concerns about Social Housing at The Entrance

In a letter to the Minister for Housing the Committee says that hasty construction of large blocks of social housing units at The Entrance is inappropriate.

Construction of the units is part of the Federal Government’s Social Housing Stimulus Package.

A Discussion Paper prepared by Mrs Anne Rowland, an Executive Member of the TEPCP says that much has been written about successful approaches to social housing projects, with recurring themes coming through:

Community engagement and renewal

Successful development and redevelopment of public housing requires providing the community with a real voice and influence in the planning, implementation and management stages.

Developers need to get to know community needs.

However, TEPCP questions whether there is any evidence of community engagement with current projects.

Social housing is more man about providing affordable shelter for households

The focus must be household and community wellbeing:

·         Social housing decision making, including decisions around new construction, must be integrated into a wider urban planning and renewal process.

·         Tenancy management and resident participation are crucial. This requires ongoing commitment to tenant focussed services including; building and unit maintenance, grounds/gardens and streetscape, council services, employment and training, income support, social inclusion programmes and income management.

·         Integration of households by assisting them to become part of the community.

·         Choice – Low income households need a say in acquiring a housing product or service of their choice and appropriate to their requirements.

TEPCP questions how do the current developments fit in with council plans for urban planning and community renewal and what are the Government’s plans and or procedures for managing and sustaining tenancies. Also, who is responsible for the management and ongoing maintenance of each site?

Factors contributing to dissatisfaction with Social Housing

Households moving into public housing now have more complex social and personal problems. These include;

Low literacy levels, low income, poorly maintained open space, high levels of unemployment, high turnover of tenancies, lack of infrastructure, extremely high levels of single parent families and a high concentration of double storey tightly built properties in a small area.

TEPCP asks, what is the plan for managing these factors and how are they currently being managed?

Supportive services for the elderly

The elderly have specific health needs along with other issues including; cognitive functioning, family relationships, language and cultural needs, literacy levels, major risk factors and frailty.

TEPCP asks what provisions are being made in the development at the Gosford Avenue development, in particular, in response to such needs and what services are currently available in the area and will they be adequate?

Public housing, policing and crime reduction

There is an association between intensive social interventions, crime reduction, higher neighbourhood cohesion and perceptions by social housing residents about crime.

Physical interventions (such as reduced concentration of dwellings) are not, on their own, associated with crime reduction.

Successful strategies include; whole-of-government strategies, intensive inter-agency collaborations, empathetic housing management, ‘non-traditional’ community policing interventions and attention to urban design.

TEPCP questions what evidence is there of these demonstrated successful strategies in the current planning and rollout?

The TEPCP is seeking responses to the questions raised in Mrs Rowland’s Discussion Paper “so that we can all be assured that the well intentioned Federal Government’s Social Housing Stimulus Package Programme does not result in adversity and problems for its recipients, The Entrance Peninsula Community and Wyong Shire.”

Chairperson, Ms Vivienne Scott points out that “Unlike the Insulation Stimulus Package, the dire implications of poorly planned Social Housing Developments cannot be instantly removed, but are highly likely to be exacerbated over time.”

Back Send us your comments