MAY 2026
All of Sydney needs housing it can afford (SMH April 7)
The editorial referred to above stated: ‘Hard to notice perhaps, but the equivalent populations of Coogee and Manly left Sydney last financial year for other parts, driven out by a lack of affordable housing and the lure of cheaper homes in regional NSW and Queensland.’
We have known that the housing situation in Sydney has been getting worse and the note by the SMH is only a symptom of the distress caused by this lack of affordable housing. We point the finger at the NSW State Government for not properly responding to the housing crisis. Time after time, when public land comes up for new use, the State Government fails to use the opportunity to extend and deepen public housing but instead opts for for-profit private housing. Major sites around Glebe or near our borders are being considered for development yet there is no sense that the state government is aiming to step into the breach and make a major move to improve the affordability of housing by making housing available to all with public housing. The development of expensive for-profit apartments does nothing to alleviate the crisis.
Fight Privatisation
The core of this problem is privatisation. Public land around Glebe is being privatised: the Old Fish Market site given over to the Mirvac, the former Westconnex dive site on Parramatta Road, and now on March 2 the announcement of the plans for Glebe Island. This prime piece of real estate belonging to the State Government is to be turned into a new suburb of private and luxury dwellings with only 10% be put aside for essential worker and student housing, and even that likely at exorbitant prices. The insidious influence of corporate interests is outdoing the needs of ordinary people for housing. The Minns NSW Labor government is privatising public land in breach of its election promises – selling off public assets after promising to end privatisation.
Join the campaign about Glebe Island & old Fish Market Site
The Hands off Glebe group encourages residents and all who will listen to the needs of Sydney housing to join our campaign to have Glebe Island Development one where public housing is maximised. We urge the Government to make the development 100% public housing – we believe public land must be for public benefit.
We maintain that the port should be maintained as this facility handles the concrete needed for building in Sydney. Trucking our cement up from Pt Kembla adds carbon emissions, congestion and cost – even more so now due to the fuel crisis brought on by the war on Iran.
Please take note of the form letter enclosed with this Grapevine. We ask that the residents sign that letter and take it to the spots listed on the reverse side and we will gather them into a package to be presented in Parliament by our local member. Or if you prefer to write your own letter do but please do something. The address you need is Minister for Planning, the Hon Paul Scully, GPO Box 5341, Sydney NSW 2001.
The Privatisation battle continues
In our council area and on the borders of our area the battle rages and needs of privatisation are winning rather than the needs of the people. We congratulate the Mayor Clover Moore who recently came out publicly to urge that the State Government convert land it owns to housing.
We note that the Victoria Barracks site which is a considerable sized site with historic buildings is being proposed for sale by the federal government, and again it seems that the proposal is for privatisation. We congratulate the City of Sydney councillors in calling for it to be retained in public hands.
Lesson from Hands off Glebe on Privatisation
When a formerly public home came up for private sale at 92 Cowper St we
rallied outside and urged the Government not to sell. Sadly, they did sell it and it is now an Airbnb for $3,000 wk. A public home for deserving people privatised for profit.
A note from a recent op-ed by Nicole Gurran, Professor in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Sydney
The lesson from history is clear: when governments use public land with purpose, they just don’t just build more housing, they build a fairer housing system.
City of Sydney’s survey on future homes in our area
If you are wondering how else you can support the campaign for more public housing and maintenance of our existing public housing, we have two more suggestions.
First, the City of Sydney is undertaking consultation on future homes in our area. It closes on 22 May, so please use the QR code below, have a look and leave your thoughts. In particular, we note the proposal for “gentle density” on laneways in Glebe and renewal of under-used sites on Parramatta Road. New gentle density is all well and good, but must be done in consultation with public housing residents, and not be based on their displacement or privatisation of their homes. Renewal of underused sites on Parramatta Road should prioritise public benefit – chiefly the provision of genuinely affordable housing.
Heritage Listing of Glebe’s Postmodern Public Housing
Second, and relevant to gentle density, the loss of high quality public housing at 82 Wentworth Park Rd and 17-31 Cowper St, has prompted us to initiate a campaign to have some similar buildings around Glebe declared heritage significant. Handsome buildings of the 1980s, mostly
designed by the Government Architect in the “Postmodern” style of the time, these buildings are not currently covered by Glebe’s existing heritage protections. Many of them are also sadly neglected for maintenance by the state
government housing department. We believe these buildings should be held up as prime examples of infill housing, not demolished or left to fall to ruin.
Together with the Glebe Society, we will be both urging the City of Sydney to protect the buildings under its heritage controls, and talking to public housing residents about any maintenance issues they are having and lobbying the state
government to address those. Follow along the campaign on Instagram @ProtectPublicHousing and either send us a message there or write to us at our PO Box or email if you’re interested in helping out.
We include images of the sadly demolished 82 Wentworth Park Road, and 17-31 Cowper St. These images remind us of lost buildings to careless planning.
Glebe Treasure badly treated
At the dawn service for ANZAC Day well known Aboriginal elder and Pastor Rev Uncle Ray Minniecon was invited to give the ‘Welcome to country’ at the start of the service. Ray whose credentials for such an honour are without question became unfortunately the victim of a racist attack. This attack coordinated across several sites around Australia was to ‘boo’ loudly when the welcome was being spoken. We are extremely disappointed that such an attack should be carried out at all let alone to someone of Ray’s status. We at the GG acknowledge we still have a way to go to repair the damage done by colonialism in this country. Other countries have managed to enact legislation where indigenous people are given parliamentary representation, treaties, and even Victoria has held a ‘truth telling enquiry’ called the Yoorrook Justice Commission Australia’s first formal truth–telling inquiry into historic and ongoing systemic injustices perpetrated by colonialism. We urge a more energetic campaign by governments both State and Federal to correct our current shortcomings. The people doing the booing must not be allowed to derail the movement towards justice, reconciliation and compensation for past crimes.