The ‘simple solution’ to the public housing towers knock-down that could save taxpayers millions

Public housing towers in Melbourne’s north could be refurbished and expanded without uprooting hundreds of residents and saving taxpayers more than $300 million, according to a new study criticising the state government’s controversial demolition plans.

But the Allan government is unapologetically pursuing its agenda to raze the blocks and rebuild estates in conjunction with the private sector. It faces a two-day class action trial in the Supreme Court this month brought by residents.

An artist’s rendering of the retrofitted public housing estate in Flemington.Credit: OFFICE

On Monday, not-for-profit architecture and research firm OFFICE released a 171-page report on the 1960s-era estate – containing four towers – off Racecourse Road in Flemington, suggesting a cheaper and less disruptive alternative to knocking down and rebuilding the towers.

Under the OFFICE proposal, the four 20-storey towers would remain in place and be progressively upgraded internally and externally, while five mid-rise buildings of social housing would be built in and around the towers on space currently used for car parking. Car parking could be put underground in the new buildings, the report says.

OFFICE director Simon Robinson said key works proposed for the towers would be making the apartments compliant with contemporary standards, such as widening doorways for disability access and new fit-outs of bathrooms and kitchens, as well as adding double-glazed windows and balconies to extend floor space.

“It would also give them a contemporary look,” he said. “There’s simple solutions. We just want to show that there is an alternative to how we develop public housing.”

But the state government has consistently dismissed the idea of retaining any of the buildings. It argues the towers, which are 50 to 70 years old, have aged beyond their useful life.

It estimates it would cost $2.3 billion over 20 years (or about $55 million for each of the city’s public housing towers) to maintain the buildings, without retrofitting them. But despite being announced more than a year ago, the government has not yet detailed any costs for demolishing and rebuilding the public estates.

Proposed upgrades to the existing towers as an alternative to demolition and rebuild.Credit: OFFICE

The first five towers slated for demolition are two already-empty red-brick towers in Carlton and three towers in the Flemington-North Melbourne area.

Despite the upcoming trial, the government has already signed a $100 million contract with John Holland for the demolition of the first tranche of towers, expected to happen late next year.

A government spokeswoman said relocations from those towers were already “well progressed” – 60 per cent of households have been moved or matched to a home, including newly built social housing nearby.

In lieu of any available government costings, OFFICE calculated what it believes the government will be spending on the Flemington estate if it razes and redevelops it, and compared it with the alternative refurbishment and expansion plan.

It used details contained in a consultant’s report from July 2023, which suggested the four demolished towers would be replaced with five new towers containing commercial space and podium car parks, with a total of 1297 dwellings (an increase of 557 units).

OFFICE costed refurbishing the existing housing towers and adding new ones at $519 million ($400,000 per unit). This compares with its estimates of the government’s demolish-and-rebuild approach of $883 million ($680,000 per unit).

The current state of public housing at Flemington Estate.Credit: Chris Hopkins

Robinson said the state’s plan would cost $364 million more than OFFICE’s proposal, which would deliver the same number of dwellings and keep residents on site.

But the government dismissed the proposal and the notion that residents could stay in place, stating it was “another attempt to block the delivery of modern, accessible and fit-for-purpose social housing”.

“Residents would still have to be relocated while upgrades take place, as works would be extensive and include significant disruption, and in order to meet modern building standards, there would be a net loss in social homes,” a spokeswoman said.

The knock-down plan, announced by former premier Daniel Andrews as part of a major housing strategy, has been criticised by the Opposition, the Greens and even those within Labor’s own ranks for a lack of transparency and because current communities would be upended for only a 10 per cent increase in social housing.

A rendering of the interior of a retrofitted dwelling at 120 Racecourse Road, Flemington. Credit: OFFICE

The remainder would be private market apartments, with an unspecified number of so-called affordable housing tenants.

OFFICE had previously completed a similar feasibility study for the former Barak Beacon walk-up estate in Port Melbourne which has since been demolished.

Last month, The Age reported that the Supreme Court judge overseeing the class action brought by residents was “startled” by claims from government lawyers that there were no documents recording decisions about the demolition plan.

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