Page 1979 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 June 2015
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Public housing has been a fundamental part of the growth of Canberra and has helped to shape the city of today. It has played a vital role in providing accommodation to people on low incomes and supporting those who have the greatest needs.
But some of our housing is old and has become expensive to maintain. The dwellings were also built to the energy efficiency and disability standards of a different time and simply do not meet the needs of today’s public housing tenants. These older properties are expensive to heat in winter and to cool in the summer months and are not adaptable for people with mobility issues. This was why in July 2014 the government announced that it was embarking on the largest renewal of the ACT’s public housing in the history of self-government.
The public housing renewal program is a major government commitment to improve the public housing stock and ensure that it continues to be distributed across Canberra, is prioritised to those who are in the highest need and supports the inclusion of public housing tenants as important members of our suburbs and communities. Initially, we are replacing 1,288 properties, including the flats along the Northbourne Avenue corridor, the Bega, Allawah and Currong flats in the city, and older complexes in Red Hill, Woden and Griffith.
We are building homes which better suit the needs of our tenants, reduce the costs of maintenance, are energy efficient and improve safety and accessibility. All properties will incorporate energy and water efficient features, appliances and technology. The aim is to achieve at least gold standard livable design or C-class building standards for people who are living with a disability.
The program will overhaul our ageing public housing stock with new, fit-for-purpose housing distributed across the ACT through the well-understood salt and pepper approach. Most new developments will range between 14 and 25 dwellings. This will be vital in ensuring we do not return to the days of high density, multi-unit properties. The program will enable an increased public housing presence in growth areas such as Gungahlin, west Belconnen and Molonglo, ensuring the continuation of the salt and pepper approach throughout Canberra as our city grows further.
As we work to incorporate public housing into new suburbs and redevelop housing in existing suburbs we are working with the broader community to achieve the best outcomes in the design of replacement stock. The government is committed to delivering appropriate housing that fits in with individual locations and is indistinguishable from the surrounding housing stock.
The integration of public housing throughout Canberra’s suburbs is not just about the numbers of stock and where it is located. It is also about the benefits of having mixed communities, people living side by side, people going to the same doctors, sending their kids to the same schools. As I have mentioned before, and we all know this from our own experiences, children do not think about housing tenure when they are playing together in school.
Housing ACT will also retain a significant proportion of inner city properties, ensuring public housing tenants who currently live close to the city centre are able to
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