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

The Sydney Morning Herald today continues its series on outdated Strata Laws which allow apartment dwellers to be exploited. For links to previous stories, see ’strata scams’ post below. For The Greens’ comprehensive answer to the problems, plus a handy Q&A for apartment dwellers, click the Strata Living box in the right hand sidebar.

To nobody’s surprise, Planning Minister Frank Sartor last weekend approved the concept plan for the Carlton-United Brewery site in Chippendale.

Bitterly opposed by the local community, the $800 million high-rise development will treble the population of the small suburb. While most agree Sydney needs more housing stock, critics of this project say it is rampant overdevelopment, designed not for quality of life and environment but for the profits of big developers.

There will be 1,690 apartments over 11 blocks. The tallest tower, eye-to-eye with the reviled UTS tower, will match it at 120 metres.

These apartments will house up to 2,800 residents. In addition there will be up to 4,800 workers each day occupying the commercial spaces. That’s 7,600 people, equal to several small towns.

The development will be so tall and dense that most of the open space will be sunless in mid-winter. Tall buildings generate wind tunnels in the canyons they create, so it is likely that outdoor living will be impractical in winter.

Even the showpiece park in the site’s centre will be 80% in shade by 2pm in mid-winter (see picture), while in many of the blocks, 40% of apartments will receive little or no direct sunlight.

Then there is parking and traffic. This supposedly environmentally sensitive project will host 2,320 parking spots. Now, only four out of ten dwellings in Chippendale own a car. An independent study for City of Sydney recommended a ratio of .57 spots per apartment, recognising the site is public-transport-rich.

But even before Frank Sartor grabbed planning control of the site, the Central Sydney Planning Committee doubled that ratio (with, interestingly, the support of Clover Moore).

That’s when I resigned in disgust from the Committee. Read the rest of this entry »

Media Release (joint release with Sylvia Hale)

The Greens have called on Minister Sartor to stipulate that a percentage of affordable housing targeted to people on low to moderate incomes be included within the new development on the CUB site on Broadway in Chippendale.

“Minister Sartor is currently thinking about taking over the CUB project. He has said that he will levy the developers for affordable housing, but it will be spent in Redfern/Waterloo. We are saying that affordable housing should then be provided at the CUB site, not a suburb away”, said Sylvia Hale, Greens spokesperson on planning and housing, and Councillor Chris Harris, City of Sydney Greens councillor and local resident.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I attended the launch of the Greens affordable housing bill at Pyrmont Point Park. Syliva Hale delivered a short speech to launch the bill and this was followed by a few words from the Mayor of Waverley, Mora Main and myself.

Pyrmont was chosen as the location for the launch as the successful City West affordable housing scheme has been established in this area for some time and now provides affordable accommodation for over 900 people.

The bill has been drafted as an amendment to the Environmental Planning legislation and would allow councils to require new housing developments of 10 units or more to provide a minimum of 10% of new housing units for people on low and moderate incomes. The affordable units would be managed by non-profit housing co-operatives or the Department of Housing.

Audio: Affordable housing remarks - April 2, 2006 at Pyrmont Point

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