Common Ground housing project funding dismissed by NSW Government

A MODEL housing project that provides permanent accommodation for the city’s most vulnerable has again missed out on vital State Government funding.

Common Ground’s Camperdown building.

A  MODEL housing project that provides permanent accommodation for the city’s most vulnerable has again missed out on vital State Government funding.

Common Ground, which provides more than 100 apartments to homeless people at Camperdown, has been gifted a parcel of land at Redfern by the City of Sydney for a second facility.

But the Mission Australia-run project requires state funding to get off the ground.

A demand for the Government to provide funding was at the centre of Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s requests to Premier Gladys Berejiklian this week.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has demanded the state governmnet fund a second Common Ground facility at Redfern.

The Redfern site could potentially house up to 150 people. The Common Ground facility at Camperdown houses 110 people.

Mission Australia chief executive Catherine Yeomans confirmed yesterday the organisation’s bid for funding under a call-out for affordable and social housing projects had been rejected.

“In 2016, Mission Australia Housing and Macquarie Capital put in a proposal to develop a new Common Ground facility in Sydney on land belonging to the City of Sydney in response to a NSW Government funding opportunity,” she said.

Mission Australia chief executive Catherine Yeomans.

“We were subsequently advised that our bid was unsuccessful.”

Last year, the City approved a conditional sale of its Marion St depot site at Redfern to Mission Australia and Macquarie Capital under the FutureLiving Consortium umbrella for the development of a second Common Ground.

It is a “housing first” model, which provides “wraparound” services to support those transitioning from homelessness into long-term residences.

A Family and Community Services spokeswoman confirmed no commitment had been given by the department for any new Common Ground project.

Homeless and displaced people shelter in tents throughout Martin Place. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Mission Australia will continue to advocate for the need for further Common Ground facilities.

The Government’s decision is a blow to the City’s affordable housing strategy, which deliberately set aside land at both Redfen and Green Square to deliver 450 affordable housing units.

Cr Moore said the establishment of the tent city in Martin Place reiterated the need for the facility, warning that if long-term affordable housing solutions were not provided, “we’ll see another tent city in the not-too-distant future”.

“I think people know that (if we get the) facility we’re seeking in Redfern ... and if we can get more affordable housing through extending our levy across the city, they would be two really big steps (to solving the city’s homelessness crisis),” she said.

Common Ground at Camperdown was built for $38 million in 2008.