December 2023
Season’s Greetings
This is the last issue of the Grapevine for 2023
so we would like to send all our readers and Hands off Glebe supporters our best wishes for the holiday season and for the New Year.
This has been a tough campaigning year for Hands off Glebe and we congratulate all our members on everything you have contributed in different ways towards our efforts to protect and increase public housing in Glebe
While we continue our campaigns to save and extend public housing in Glebe and beyond, we join the world-wide demand for a ceasefire in Gaza to end the appalling toll of deaths of men, women and children and the destruction of so many homes, schools and hospitals.
The Local Planning Panel dashes our hopes for 82 Wentworth Park Road
The Local Planning Panel (LPP) met on 13 December to consider the DA which authorises the demolition and rebuild of 82 Wentworth Park Road.
Hands off Glebe members and supporters rallied outside the Town Hall and some then gave evidence to the LPP.
The four member panel was divided with two members voting against and two for. The DA was only carried on the chairperson’s casting vote.
This is a setback but we intend to continue the campaign to save 82 and to convince the ALP Government in NSW to adopt the new approach to renovating instead of evicting and demolishing.
We are grateful to all the members and supporters of Hands off Glebe, the Glebe Society and Action for Public Housing who have put their hearts into efforts to save 82 Wentworth Park Road.
The City of Sydney has passed a resolution recommending that regeneration of public housing should be like the alternative plan proposed by the Glebe Society/Hands off Glebe model.
The next stage of our campaign is a direct appeal to Minister Rose Jackson who has the final say on this project. For this we need you to take action again. We ask for an avalanche of appeals to the Minister to reverse the decision
Appeal to the Minister
Visit our webpage link and follow the steps to appeal to the Minister to stop the demolition of 82 Wentworth Park Road, Glebe.
or
Write directly to Minister Rose Jackson
office@jackson.minister.nsw.gov.au
The Wentworth Report launched
The Wentworth Report, a new pamphlet co-authored by Dr Hannah Middleton from Hands off Glebe and Ian Stephenson from The Glebe Society, was launched at Sydney Town Hall on 12 December.
An enthusiastic audience heard Cllr Sylvie Ellsmore launch the pamphlet and report that Sydney City Council had voted to support our campaign for renovation to replace the old model of evict-demolish-rebuild.
Architect Hector Abrahams, who designed our plan for 82, spoke in support of efforts to oppose the government plan as financially wasteful and bad for residents and the environment.
The building has 5 x 3-bedroom terraces, each with a private garden, and 12 x 1-bedroom units. John Gregory, its original architect, says it could be renovated for around $1.4 million, Demolishing and rebuilding will cost nearly $25 million.
The complex is 40 years old and is situated in a suburb full of 19th Century housing. It can easily last another 100 years,
NSW GOVERNMENT HOUSING CHANGES
Maintenance
The NSW Labor government will take back control of the maintenance of its 95,000 social housing properties as part of its push to reverse the outsourcing of services to the private sector.
The new government agency Housing NSW will assume responsibility for a centralised call centre, to log tenants’ required repairs and allocate the work to local tradespeople.
Housing Minister Rose Jackson said this “will make sure basic requests are actioned in a timely manner and will help stop homes falling into disrepair.”
Rezoning
The Minns Labor Government has identified eight Sydney transport hubs for accelerated rezoning for the delivery of up to 47,800 new high and mid-rise homes over the next 15 years. Affordable housing held in perpetuity will make up to 15% of homes in these locations.
The governmentwill rezone 31 locations across NSW allowing for 138,000 new homes to be created close to metro or suburban rail stations. These include Bays West which will impact Glebe.
The State government has also announced that will also allow for different housing types like residential flat buildings, manor houses, terraces, and duplexes in these locations.
Affordable housing
A new State Environmental Planning Policy to make it faster and easier to build more affordable housing has been introduced.
The reforms include a new bonus Floor Space Ratio of up to 30% and a height bonus of up to 30% where a proposal includes a minimum of 15% of the gross floor area as affordable housing.
They also allow state-owned housing agencies to build more affordable housing without needing council approvals.
Hands off Glebe has cautiously welcomed these developments as indicating that the government is taking more responsibility for housing. However, public housing is not mentioned and there are other concerns.We remember the old saying: The proof of the pudding is in the eating.