Darebin Council slams Townhall Avenue public housing tower claims as “myth”

A COUNCIL has slammed a flyer showing a high rise public housing development in Melbourne’s north as “myth” and said the community group advocating against it is misleading residents.

THERE will be no high rise tower or public housing on a key piece of Preston land, Darebin Council says.

The council declaration follows the distribution of a flyer to letterboxes depicting a high rise housing commission development at Townhall Ave.

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The No Townhall Tower group sent a flyer to residents featuring the digitally altered image of a high-rise building on the street, along with claims the development would have “massive long term negative impacts” on the area.

But the council has ruled out both the possibility of public housing and a high-rise tower at the site and said the claims on the flyer were a “myth” and were misleading residents.

The flyer placed in letterboxes around the Townhall Ave site.

The council’s acting chief executive Cathy Henderson said the current consultation and feedback period about the site was only to explore the possibility of leasing it for housing and all decisions on the use, size and shape of any development would be made in the future.

“The insights we gain through the submission process will be fed into the process for selecting a tenant and the aspirations and concerns of the community will be captured and incorporated into the requirements for the development,” Ms Henderson said.

A submissions hearing will be held on August 20 and the council will make a decision on whether to lease the land in November.

No Townhall Tower convener Vince Cuni said the community hadn’t been given enough time to voice their concerns and affordable housing was a State Government issue.

“The state and federal levels do this stuff every day, they know how to do it and put it all together,” he said. “(The council) are just going to hand it off to somebody and say ‘here you go’.”

The council has been vocal in its opposition to the sell-off of the Walker St public housing estate.

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