Melbourne public housing estate residents protest against redevelopment

A COALITION of Left-wing groups has rallied to sound the alarm over an Andrews Government plan to rebuild nine dilapidated public housing estates in Melbourne by selling them to developers.

A COALITION of Left-wing groups has sounded the alarm over an Andrews Government plan to rebuild nine public housing estates.

The government will sell nine dilapidated estates to developers on the condition the estates are rebuilt with a 10 per cent increase in capacity.

Thousands of tenants would be temporarily rehomed during construction, which would see private dwellings built alongside public units.

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Victorian Socialists leader and Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly led a rally at the Walker St estate in Northcote. Picture: Alex Coppel

The Northcote public housing estate faces demolition. Picture: Alex Coppel

But the plan has outraged activists who oppose selling public land while thousands languish on housing waiting lists.

Victorian Socialists leader and Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly led a rally at the Walker St estate in Northcote today, joined by residents, Greens members and activists.

Cr Jolly said the government could afford to rebuild the estate and keep it in public hands.

“It’s outrageous the government is cutting public housing instead of expanding it,” he said.

“Just to get renovations, tenants have to self-fund by sacrificing their open space.”

About 30 per cent of the Northcote estate’s tenants are understood to have been relocated ahead of demolition, which should take place in the next several months.

A large estate in Ascot Vale is expected to be among the next to fall.

The demolition is set to take place within a few months. Picture: Alex Coppel

The issue could shape up as an election year headache. Picture: Alex Coppel

Public housing could shape up as an election year headache for the Andrews Government, with the new Victorian Socialists party campaigning heavily on the issue.

The Greens have long pushed for more housing and won an Upper House inquiry into the estate program last year.

The inquiry spoke with hundreds of people and is due to report next month.

And the issue played a role in last year’s Northcote by-election, in which Labor received a drubbing from voters.

Earlier this year, the Greens and the Opposition formed an unlikely alliance to block legislation that would have allowed the redevelopment of a housing estate in Ashburton.

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Victorian Public Tenants Association chief executive Mark Feenane said the proposed 10 per cent increase was “better than nothing” but “barely scratched the surface”.

“We desperately need comprehensive, long-term plans from all sides of politics if we’re ever going to tackle Victoria’s housing crisis.”

“The prize in the renewal program is the replacement of 1,100 public housing properties that are not fit for purpose.

“We are, however, very concerned about the loss of bedrooms on the redeveloped estates and are yet to receive an adequate response about how larger families will be accommodated.”

A spokesman for Housing Minister Martin Foley accused critics of living in the past.

“The housing estate model of the 1950s and 60s is broken,” he said.

“Our plan will transform these communities - breaking down the stigma of public housing with a greater social mix to delivering the outcomes that our housing tenants deserve.

“Opponents of our plan need to explain their actions to the more than 36,000 people on the Victorian Housing Register.”