Page 1255 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 29 March 2017
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I am happy to lay out the approach and values of our government, and our actions, through the public housing renewal program to give people who are doing it tougher than we are a decent go. I think that all members agree on the importance of safe and secure housing. These shared values are reflected in the parliamentary agreement, which also includes initiatives to address affordable housing and homelessness in this city.
With respect to the size of our city, the ACT government maintains the highest proportion of public and community housing stock in Australia, with about 30 dwellings per 1,000 people against a national average of 17. Let us remember the history. This housing provided homes to the people who built Canberra. It gave an equal chance at life to so many families who just wanted to contribute and be part of a welcoming community, my own family included. It does these things today.
I would like to remind the Assembly of what housing renewal means for tenants moving out of old, outdated homes. A number of public housing dwellings which served many families and individuals for generations have now become outdated, environmentally inefficient and expensive to maintain. It means more comfortable and modern homes, better suited to ageing in place, and in smaller developments where community safety is built into the design.
The government’s renewal program is seeing families and individuals moving into more energy efficient homes with better security and modern amenities, which have already begun to make a significant difference to their lives. The public housing renewal program is seeking to address that problem and spread housing more evenly across the city.
Some of the existing older multi-unit sites have up to 400 units clustered in a single location, and we are seeking to reduce this concentration. The renewal program has been following, and continues to and will follow, the principles of the salt and pepper approach. We are including public housing in as many suburbs as possible. We are developing lower density public housing in a mix of stand-alone houses, compact homes and smaller groups of townhouses and apartments. The government is delivering this through both construction and purchase, in both newer suburbs and established areas.
I have been lucky to see a number of the newly built and refurbished dwellings, and I would be happy to extend the opportunity to show other members some of the new projects as they are completed. They are top-rated for accessibility and are being built to a standard often exceeding the quality of private developments. Indeed I have heard people say, when they have heard of public housing being built in their suburb, that they went looking for the new public housing and they could not find it. So I welcome a discussion around the planning and environmental aspects of this program. I want to assure the Assembly and the community that the government is listening to all the input that we receive.
Yesterday, as I said earlier, I spoke to one of the community representatives in relation to a proposed renewal site, and I will continue to engage with them. I also
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