National Trust Criticises Sale of Public Housing in Millers Point

The National Trust has criticised the New South Wales Government for what it describes as a lack of consultation over the sale of historic public housing properties at Sydney's Millers Point.

 

400 residents will be evicted over a two year period when nearly 300 homes are sold including 200 historic houses at Millers Point and The Rocks.

The National Trust's Advocacy Director, Graham Quint, says the social significance of the homes and their occupants has been overlooked.

"It's the speed with which it's occurring and the lack of consultation," he said.

"This is an incredibly important area, there aren't many areas which are actually listed for their social significance, and it needs to be treated more thoughtfully. You just don't evict the number of people who are being evicted now and think you won't disturb the very important social fabric that's there."

Mr Quint says the heritage value of the area and its people have been ignored by the State Government.

"Millers Point is the oldest surviving continuously inhabited urban residential precinct in Australia's european settlement history,' he said.

"The buildings they've been listed, the area's twice been listed. Now the second State Heritage listing specifically spoke about the social history and these people who are about to be evicted."

The Family and Community Services Minister, Pru Goward, has rejected the criticism

Ms Goward says the reasons for selling the homes outweigh the concerns.

"There are better places in Sydney for those families and that's what I want to do," she said.

"And this is about fairness, this is about me and the Government being able to look at 57,000 people on the waiting list and saying no no you can't have a house, sure, because we've got people there living in very very valuable properties who want to stay."

Professor Peter Phibbs from the University of Sydney says the Government has ignored many of the recommendations made in a social impact study done on the plan.

He says one of the key recommendations was to relocate residents on spare land in the same area.

"The thing that worries me about it, it's almost like Pru Goward as the Minister for Family and Community services seems to be the Minister for real estate, and not actually thinking about the needs of the tenants down there," he said.

"I think the Government could meet their economic and their social objectives if they basically looked at some smarter policy options."

Photo: Public housing tenant Patricia Haub, 77, with her dog Randy, outside her home in Millers Point.