Disused aged care site Whiddon Easton Park, in Glenfield to be converted to homeless housing
Renovations have begun to convert a former aged care home into temporary housing for women at risk.
NSW
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Work has begun to convert a former aged care home in south west Sydney into temporary housing for women at risk of homelessness, backed by government funding.
Renovations of the disused residential care home in Glenfield, Whiddon Easton Park, have begun as a result of a collaboration between private sector property holders, charities and public funding.
Planning changes introduced by the Minns government in late 2024 have allowed work on the site to begin without an often extensive development application (DA) process, the exemption provided under “meanwhile use” planning controls.
The meanwhile use policy re-purposes vacant or under-utilised properties into transitional housing accommodation.
Not-for-profit aged care provider Whiddon made their facility available for use for the project, with Sydney-based developer Urban Property renovating the site pro-bono. Charity Housing All Australians co-ordinated the project.
Urban Property manager Nick Gaudry said after hearing about the opportunity to convert the site, “it was an easy yes”.
“Our team rolled up their sleeves, and we reached out to our suppliers, many of whom jumped in to help with materials and labour,” he said.
“We’re proud to play a part in creating safe, welcoming spaces for women who need them most.”
Conversion of the site is set to add 28 beds for older women at risk of homelessness by October as part of the Women’s Community Shelters network.
Census data has indicated older women have been the fastest growing demographic at risk of or experiencing homelessness since 2011.
Women’s Community Shelters chief executive Annabelle Daniel said the charity which is set to run the facility “creates safe havens for Australian women escaping the cycle of violence and homelessness”.
“As well as continuously growing our crisis shelter network, we create longer-term transitional housing such as this ‘meanwhile use’ conversion of vacant property, where women can rebuild their lives with support,” she said.
“We thank the NSW government for embracing our ‘meanwhile use’ model as a pragmatic response to the NSW housing crisis disproportionately impacting older women.”
The initiative is co-funded with $446k from the government’s Homelessness Innovation Fund, which provides one-off grant funding to support novel cost-effective approaches to temporary accommodation.
Minister for Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson said she was “so proud to see our Homelessness Innovation Fund provide safety and stability for women who need it most”.
“The fund is part of our historic $6.6 billion Building Homes for NSW program, the largest ever investment in housing in our state’s history,” she said.
“We are turning vacant buildings into safe homes that provide dignity, stability, and a chance for people to back on their feet.”
At the end of May 2024, there were 66,698 households waiting for social housing in NSW. In the 12 months since March 2024, the median waiting time for applicants to social housing has fallen from 24 to 15 months.
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Originally published as Disused aged care site Whiddon Easton Park, in Glenfield to be converted to homeless housing
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