By ANEEKA SIMONIS and ALANA MITCHELSON
RESIDENTS were threatened with being thrown out of a council meeting after they yelled out protests against a unanimous decision to approve the first phase of an affordable housing development in Pakenham.
“We don’t want them here” and “not in our backyard” were among the calls from dozens of residents who watched as Cardinia shire councillors voted in favour of the 20 Storey Road development for down-and-out families.
Loud gasps and hushed conversations between aggrieved residents made up the racket which led Mayor Jodie Owen to call for them to be quiet or be removed from council chambers Monday 18 July.
More than 40 objections and a petition were considered by councillors in a special meeting held two weeks earlier to wade through complaints including concerns about neighbourhood safety property devaluation.
But all submissions were in vain as councillors pushed through the plan.
It is likely the development would begin during the 2017-18 on the proviso that an appropriate housing provider was found, subject to further community consultations.
Councillors spoke at length on the social housing crisis impacting the growing municipality in addition to increasing rates of domestic violence and financial instability as a cause for homelessness.
Cr Owen denied claims that the housing project would devalue homes, highlighting those in urgent need of housing are not trouble-makers but people whose life has taken unfortunate turns.
“If you go down to Bourke Park on a Tuesday or Thursday night you will see people lining up for food or a shower in a mobile shower.
“These people have nothing and their children have nothing. They lost their dignity,” she said.
“This is not going to be some shonky deal to devalue houses. That’s not why I came on council. I came on council to be a voice for the community,” she said.
Her support for the proposal was backed by a council review which claimed to have found properties surrounding a similar development in Lakeside has experienced an average 15 per cent value increase.
Cr Collin Ross urged residents to keep an “open mind” about the plan which will preferentially house at-risk single parent families, particularly those escaping domestic abuse, in line with council’s Together We Can campaign.
But, the housing development is not yet a sealed deal.
However, if or when it does get the final go-ahead, the land will forever remain a welfare housing block.
The council’s General Manager of Community Wellbeing Jenny Scicluna said that the council had imposed strict stipulations on the sale or lease of the land including requirements it always be used to accommodate struggling families.
The plan will now be tendered to housing providers who will be required to undertake further community consultation.
The provider will be responsible for constructing, managing and maintaining the facility as well as selecting tenants and providing ongoing support.
Strict eligibility criteria will be used to select prospective tenants and the provider – along with local support agencies – will undertake responsibility of ensuring tenants have ongoing access to referral services and outreach programs.
Cr David Young consoled residents in the chamber that if the development is “deemed inappropriate” the council will not proceed with the sale or lease of the land.
“(However), if this project goes ahead, it’s important that these people are made to feel welcome, not made to feel like a boil in the face of the community,” he said.
The council intend to sell the land below its value, estimated to be between $650,000 and $700,000, to ensure the site remains affordable for incoming tenants. Similar arrangements will be made for a possible lease agreement.
Initial estimates predicted up to 10 houses would be built at the site, however the final number will be determined by the housing provider.
Data has revealed that Cardinia shire’s population expanded by 16 per cent in the four years up to 2015, but social housing increased by just 4.4 per cent
The municipality is serviced but just two crisis accommodation properties and three registered rooming houses.
It battles a host of issues including couch surfing, overcrowding and residential houses being converted into unregistered rooming houses due to a lack of affordable social housing.
Those people who are financially stretched but in a home admit that food and health costs take second place to paying their rent.
