Councillor Chris Harris

As the Greens Councillor on the City of Sydney Council, I believe the proposed eviction of 8 residents from a Glebe boarding house to make way for a harbour side residential development is an indication of the shameful lack of commitment by Labor governments to provide affordable housing in Sydney. This is at odds with the election material of the Sydney Federal Labor candidate Tanya Plibersek who talks about being concerned about the lack of affordable housing.

The Department of Planning has stated that this development will result in a significant loss of low-cost rental accommodation and a cumulative loss of boarding house accommodation in the area, but has nevertheless given it the go-ahead.

This property, described by the Department as ‘economically unviable’, is covered by SEPP 10, which is the State Environment Planning Policy for the Retention of Low-Cost Rental Accommodation.

SEPP 10 has a ‘get out’ provision that allows the Minister to exempt a boarding house if it is ‘economically unviable’. In very simple terms if the rental yield - which is the rental return in a twelve month period divided by the current market value – is less than 6% then the property is considered economically unviable for affordable housing and may be redeveloped.

With the dramatic escalation of real estate prices since the year 2000 I’d be surprised if you could find any residential real estate for rent in Sydney, affordable or not, that would yield 6%. Given this, it seems that SEPP 10 is pretty well useless for protecting affordable housing in Sydney.

The Department has said that the residents will be given assistance to find alternative accommodation - note this is in no way a guarantee – they will get extended notice of eviction (60 days) and will be given a $500 one-off payment to assist with relocation expenses. However this hardly a commitment to affordable housing and the residents will find themselves evicted at Christmas time in a tight and increasingly expensive rental market.

At the last council meeting (Monday October 29th,2007) I introduced an amendment to the development approval which requires that City staff contact the residents affected by the eviction and offer them assistance in finding alternative accommodation and if necessary advocate for them with public housing authorities. My amendment was supported by all councillors.

The Greens believe that state and federal governments need to make a real and ongoing commitment to building affordable accommodation particularly for the low-to-average wage workers and young people. This will have the environmental benefits of placing workers close to their place of work and reducing car travel plus it will provide equitable support to the millions of people (half the population) who have had no benefit from the real estate boom over the past decade.

SMH article 31/10/07

Childcare is the biggest issue for working women with children.  The question is whether the City of Sydney council wants to or is prepared to deal with this issue.

In a motion put to Council, Councillor Harris is called on the City of Sydney to prepare a report to establish the feasibility of providing a crèche on site for the children of council staff.

“As one of Sydney’s major employers, the City of Sydney Council should be setting the example not lagging behind private enterprise in providing quality childcare facilities” according to Greens Councillor, Chris Harris.

“The greatest investment a society can make is in its children. Companies such as Lend Lease in the city, IBM at Pennant Hills and the NSW Police Headquarters at Parramatta realise this and are already leading the way with in-house childcare facilities” Cr. Harris said

“Since 1994 the Body Shop’s head office in Melbourne have had an 86-place childcare facility that provides care and education programs for children aged from birth to five. They also provide a special room with kitchenette and work station where a parent can spend the day with a sick child.

“The advantage for companies that provide childcare facilities is that their staff are more wiling to return to work earlier. There is a severe shortage of childcare places, especially in the 0-2 year group.  If mothers know they can breastfeed their babies at work and that they only have to make one trip to work rather than dashing off to childcare centres then they have an incentive to return to work sooner.  Cr Harris said.

“But it’s not just the convenience of having childcare facilities that is behind my motion, studies have shown that conflicts between employee’s work and family can hinder overall productivity.

“If we provide high quality childcare facilities for our staff, we would not only be investing in our workforce, but we would be providing a safe and secure environment in which our children can grow and learn. If because of this initiative, productivity improves then that’s an added bonus,” Councillor Harris said

Cr Harris’ motion was supported by all councillors present and the staff will now prepare a report for a future council meeting on how an internal childcare facility can be provided.