Tag: Millers Point

Zanny Begg’s ‘The Beehive’ reminds us the fight for housing justice is far from over.

MILLERS POINT: The cameras were rolling early in the morning as the Spring Picnic committee and band of local volunteers set up the pavilions on the Village Green in Argyle Place.

Mention you’re an Australian urban academic anywhere in the world and someone is bound to ask about the Green Bans.

Green Ban was a form of political action established in 1970s Sydney. The movement incorporated an eccentric mix of resident action groups, feminists, gay...

MILLERS POINT: Pitting desperate people against each other in a contest for survival is one of the most cynical, devious and miserable ploys in politics. But that is exactly what Minister for Community Services, Gabrielle Upton, did last month.

Millers Point is in the news lately for a lot of wrong reasons. But back in the day, Barney Gardner recalls, cab drivers would start across the bridge to Milsons Point before he’d call “Whoah!” and throw the driver a few bob, jump out and cut across Observatory Hill to his High Street home.

The NSW government’s Legislative Council established the Select Committee on Social, Public and Affordable Housing on November 13, 2013 to inquire into, and report on, demand for social public and affordable housing in NSW. Public hearings were conducted on March 13 and May 30, 2014.

Sydney has been put on notice, the eviction of hundreds of public housing tenants from Millers Point is seen as the beginning of the end for public housing in the inner city.

MILLERS POINT: The Millers Point Social Impact Assessment (SIA) commissioned by the government presented a list of mitigation principles to minimise social impact should the government decide to sell public housing in the area’s heritage precinct. The goal of these mitigation principals was to minimise the negative social impacts to the Millers Point community and the broader social housing system of such a sale.

Elderly residents in Millers Point have been reluctant to use non-profit transport services since the government’s announcement that public housing properties in the area will be sold.

Since the last SSH a number of groups have rallied behind Millers Point residents impacted by the proposed sale of public housing in the area.

On Tuesday November 23, 2010, the Hon. Greg Pearce told the NSW Parliament that there were concerns about the government of the day using special state planning powers and procedures without proper consultation with Department of Housing tenants or surrounding communities, and called on the government to consult each community and address their concerns before plans were finalised and development commenced on proposed public housing developments.

Last month the NSW government and Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) produced a media pack in addition to the widely available media release from Minister Goward. The pack provides an insight into how LAHC managed the media at the same time as keeping information from NGOs that may have provided alternative perspectives.

Resident groups in Millers Point and The Rocks are protesting the state government’s plans to sell more than 300 homes. The public housing sell-off is widely considered a sell-out with regard to community and heritage values. The announcement by Community Services Minister Pru Goward to evict an entire community has bought disparate groups together, along with many concerned residents and citizens.

On Thursday March 27, the Hands Off Glebe group organised a march on Parliament to call on the Minister for Family and Community Services (FACS), Pru Goward, to address years of maintenance neglect, public humiliation of tenants and the growing sell-off of public housing assets. The rally attracted over 100 public housing tenants from across the city, the Coast and the Illawarra, and gave tenants the opportunity to raise their concerns in front of State Parliament.