Councillor Chris Harris

The Minister for Housing recently announced that a ‘Common Ground’ facility will be built in Camperdown. The project will provide further accommodation for people on the waiting list for public housing, affordable housing for low paid workers and a specialist unit designed to provide stable accommodation to chronically homeless people. The project follows on the heels of a successful Common Ground pilot project in Adelaide and a larger project in Melbourne. These schemes were very successful in housing chronically homeless people and keeping them off the street. Hand in hand with the accommodation is live-in staff who attend to the complex health & substance addiction needs that are frequently present with homeless people.

The project envisages approximately 90 apartments of which around one third will be allocated to the homeless. A new building will be constructed, with the help of Federal stimulus money, on some vacant land owned by Housing NSW. The land is located between the Joanna O’Dea building, on the corner of Pyrmont Bridge Road & Lyons Road, Camperdown, and the Alexander Terraces which are next door and bounded by Pyrmont Bridge Road & Lambert Street.

The Greens welcome the Common Ground project in Sydney and hope that this will be the first of many. However, some of the current tenants of the Alexander Terraces, constructed by the City of Sydney in 1927, will need to be relocated to other public housing in nearby suburbs and any relocations will need to be handled with sensitivity and openness. The Minister for Housing has indicated that these tenants would be assisted with removal expenses and a brief rent holiday.

Two of the tenants I met have been living in the Terraces for 52 years so understandably the prospects of having to move are very unsettling for them. These elderly tenants will require significant support if they have to relocate and The Greens are very concerned to see that Housing NSW gives them the support they need. Housing NSW will also need to keep tenants well informed about whether or not they will be relocated.

A second issue that has been raised by nearby residents is the use of the small piece of land between the Joanna O’Dea building and the Terraces. In recent times this land has been used by non - Housing NSW tenants as a small park and an exercise area for their dogs. A petition which seeks to locate the project away from Camperdown has been circulated by some residents and has added to the uncertainty surrounding the project.

Some residents have been using this vacant land as their local park and are upset at the prospect of losing this to the Common Ground project. In response I have asked the City of Sydney to meet with Housing NSW to investigate the prospects of jointly developing some adjacent open space that forms part of the Joanna Odea complex into a park that can be used by tenants of public housing, the common Ground project and other residents from the local community. This will serve the dual purpose of providing alternative open space for a park and integrating the new project into the community. 

With good management, sensitivity and a cooperative approach between Housing NSW & the City of Sydney we can create an innovative project that begins to tackle homelessness in Sydney and provides more affordable accommodation & open space for local residents. The site is considered ideal, being close to transport, a hospital and the city. It will include a mix of affordable and social housing and there is a timeline in place that should see design and construction plans ready later this month with approval by Christmas.

Below is a Question Without Notice I asked at council meeting on August 31, 2009.

QWN Cr Chris Harris
 
Lord Mayor
 
There has been considerable misinformation circulating about the common ground project in Camperdown and I am asking that the City provide accurate information in response to my question so that all interested parties may be properly informed.
 
1. How many public housing tenants will be moved from the  Alexander Terraces to  accommodate  the new works that will take place for the Common Ground project? Where will these people be rehoused and what assistance will they receive to do so?
2. Please confirm that the vacant land between the  Alexander Terraces and the Joanna O’Dea complex is owned by Housing NSW and is not a City of Sydney Park.
3. Given that this vacant land has been used by local residents as a local park could the CEO meet with the Department of Housing to discuss redeveloping the land that is enclosed on three sides by the Joanna O’Dea building plus the roadside verge adjacent to Lyons Rd that is used for parking cars. What I am suggesting is that the COS and Housing NSW jointly create a  larger park space that can be shared by residents, common ground and public housing tenants.
4. Can you indicate whether the land on the corner of Lyons Rd &  Lambert Street is likely to be dedicated to the City of Sydney via a voluntary planning agreement and if so could this also be dedicated to a park .