Minister considers relocation exemptions for some public housing residents at The Rocks

By Jayne Margetts and Thuy Ong  Fri 7 Aug 2015, 8:28am    

Photo: Residents of the Sirius building want the State Government to halt the relocation process. (ABC News: Jayne Margetts)      

 

Public housing tenants facing eviction at The Rocks in inner Sydney are calling on the New South Wales Government to stop the relocation process while alternative options are considered.

The State Government is selling off homes at Millers Point, including the Sirius building, to fund the creation of new housing across the state as the waiting list for public housing in NSW tops 59,000.
The Sirius apartment complex was built over 35 years ago for ageing public housing tenants displaced during the 1970s when the area around The Rocks was being redeveloped.
Resident Cherie Johnson is one of the seven residents left in the Sirius apartments and says she does not want to leave the community.
"We all love, care and respect one another in this community. If anything goes wrong we band together and that's the way it is, it's like a little country town," she said.
"The first day we moved here [we went] the following morning to Miller's Point to buy a newspaper and ladies in the town [said] 'good morning' and I thought how beautiful is that."

Photo: Myra Demetriou (centre) with friends in her Sirius building apartment in The Rocks. (ABC News: Jayne Margetts)

Minister for Family and Community Services Brad Hazzard said he was considering exemptions for some residents.

"It'll be full steam ahead for the sales at Millers Point of the vacant properties, but I'm certainly talking to a number of people down there who have raised particular issues with me and seeing if there is any possibility to finding some balance to the issue," he said.
In a letter to independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, the minister said: "Millers Point tenants have first choice of any available social housing property across NSW".
But he acknowledged individual circumstances could mean finding a suitable property would be more difficult for some than others.
He said he would continue to consult with community members and other stakeholders to hear feedback over the course of the project.
"It's just on your mind all the time, to destroy and pull apart, tear apart this beautiful community, loving community that we have," Ms Johnson said.
I can't believe that it's happening. I'm devastated."

National Trust considering heritage-listing for Sirius Building

Amid the tussle between the residents and the government is another bone of contention — the National Trust is considering a proposal to have the building heritage listed with public submissions closing next month.
Myra Demetriou, who is blind and injured from a fall, returned to the Sirius apartments today for a visit and said it was important for her that she is allowed to stay.
"I dream about my place every night and I wake up and think 'Oh I'm still in the nursing home' so it's very nice to be here," she said.
"I'd like to see them try and put me out."
The Sirius apartment building was built for people on low incomes who needed a place to move to and wanted to stay in the community, said its architect, Tao Gofers.
He is backing calls from residents for the State Government to keep some of the apartments as public housing.
"I think a reasonable compromise would be for them to sell some of the units and use the money from those units to support the other special units like the handicap units and the aged pensioner units, so that you have an actual mix," he said.

RESOURCED: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-06/the-rocks-public-housing-residents-relocation-halt-alternatives/6678638