Fight For Millers Point The Subject Of New Documentary

4 May 2015

By Thomas Williams

 

 

NSW Government attempts to sell off public housing on the CBD fringe and move our residents is being captured on film. Thomas Williams reports.
 

The sell-off of public housing in and around the Sydney suburb of Millers Point is being etched into history by a new documentary currently in production. The film, which is the first feature-length project by 27-year-old Sydney filmmaker Blue Lucine, is following the lives of Millers Point residents, including some who are refusing to leave their homes.

Ms Lucine’s documentary, which currently has the working title ‘Forced Out’, came into being shortly after former Minister for Family and Community Services, Pru Goward, announced in March 2014 that the NSW government would auction off 293 high-value public housing properties in Millers Point, Gloucester Street and The Rocks, relocating 590 residents.

The state government says it intends to complete this sale by March 2016, and will put sale proceeds back into the public housing system.

Ms Lucine says she began her film with an open mind, but soon faced a stark reality.

“I started with the opinion that maybe the government’s plan was the best thing for Sydney, but that changed once I was inside the houses and I saw the decay and just how badly everything has been left,” she says. “It just didn’t seem logical that the government would think selling that amount of property in such a short amount of time was a good idea.”

Produced by Tom Zubrycki and Helen Barrow, ‘Forced Out’ has similarities to Mr Zubrycki’s 1981 film, ‘Waterloo’, which documented the efforts of Waterloo residents who fought against public housing redevelopments in the 1970s.

“Waterloo also touched on exactly the same things: the planning process, community involvement, no bureaucratic accountability,” says Mr Zubrycki, who believes ‘Forced Out’ will bolster the cause of Millers Point residents.

“‘Forced Out’ will help residents by reassuring them that there are people who are with them,” he says. “The film will mean that whatever they do individually will be recorded in history, regardless of whether they’re successful or not, and I think that’s important.”

A 12-minute preview of ‘Forced Out’ was screened at Sydney’s Parliament House in March, exactly one year since Minister Goward’s announcement. Millers Point residents, media, members of the public and local Labor, Greens and Independent members attended the screening.

No Liberal party representatives were present, despite having been invited.



“My goal is to present a balanced argument, but it’s becoming more challenging because the Liberal government won’t engage, and they won’t discuss and they won’t be honest,” Ms Lucine said.

“I’m trying to show what they’re doing, and even giving them a chance to explain why, but they won’t.”

The previewed section of ‘Forced Out’, which focuses on economic, political and heritage issues, drew strong reactions from locals. Millers Point resident Eddy Hughes said such issues are increasingly important to the suburb’s fight.

“The emotional side of the argument isn’t working anymore,” she said. “No one cares.”
Barney Gardener, lifelong Millers Point resident and convener of the Millers Point, Dawes Point & The Rocks Public Housing Tenants Group, said, “This sell-off is going to affect everyone, so what we need to do is band together and stop this ridiculous sell-off of our public assets.”

Barney Gardiner, one of the leaders of the fight to save public housing on the fringes of Sydney's CBD. (IMAGE: ANGELA NICHOLSON).

Ms Lucine says she doesn’t know how the rest of the Millers Point sell-off will eventuate, but promises to be there until the end, sharing residents’ stories.

 

“For me, the film is about awareness. My biggest fear with Australia’s culture right now is that we’re so insular, and that leads to really bad things in society when everyone ignores what’s going on.”
Having already received funding from Screen Australia and Screen NSW, the creators of ‘Forced Out’ are planning to launch a crowd funding campaign in June this year.

Tax deductible donations can currently be made to film via the Documentary Australia Foundation website.
 

- See more at: https://newmatilda.com/2015/05/04/fight-millers-point-subject-new-documentary#sthash.k8aALSVt.z8YyqtaX.dpuf

RESOURCED: https://newmatilda.com/2015/05/04/fight-millers-point-subject-new-documentary 

Millers Point: A Community Up For Sale

16 Aug 2014

By Thomas Williams



IMAGE: Angela Nicholson.

The NSW Government's determination to clear out public housing from one of the nation's priciest suburbs is matched only by the determination of long-time residents to stay. Thomas Williams reports.

Within the first six months of 1900, over 44,000 rats were killed and heaped into piles throughout some of Sydney’s oldest suburbs.

In an attempt to rid the city of the bubonic plague, professional rat catchers either threw the rats’ muddied corpses into Sydney harbour or destroyed them in special rat-friendly incinerators.
Those very rats, covered in plague-spreading fleas, first made land on the wharves which still hug the suburb of Millers Point.

Many local homes were marked for cleansing, disinfecting, demolition and burning, as the plague went on to kill 103 people in eight months. Today, homes in Millers Point are still being marked out, but for a different type of cleansing.

The New South Wales state government will auction off 293 high-value public housing properties in Millers Point, Gloucester Street and the Sirius building in The Rocks over a two year period, forcing 590 residents to be relocated.

Many of these residents, and even some whose homes aren’t being sold, have tied yellow ribbons to their front doors in solidarity against the state government’s plan.

Aside from such a ribbon, the red-brick frontage of 14 High Street is decorated with three small Australian flags and the words “NO SALE OF PUBLIC HOUSING” stencilled onto a white banner.

The home, like many others in the suburb, has barely changed as high-rises have climbed into the cityscape around it. Number 14 belongs to Barney Gardner, a 65-year-old who has lived in Millers Point since his birth.

Barney has moved house only once, making the trip from 12 High Street to 14 High Street in 1990.
You never stray far from the tree.

Sandwiched between commercial tourist precinct The Rocks on its east and the forthcoming high-roller-haven Barangaroo to its west, Millers Point is comparatively quiet, placid and residential. It’s dotted with slick offices but lined with pastel and earth-coloured terraces. The homes here are heritage listed, “But the people are too,” Barney says. “So if they get rid of the people, who’s gonna tell the stories?”




IMAGE: Angela Nicholson.

 

Approaching the Harry Jensen Activity Centre on Argyle Street, a large banner is visible across the centre’s fence-line - “OUR COMMUNITY NOT 4 SALE”. Inside, the space is weighted by a sterile linoleum floor, metal-framed chairs crowding small round tables, and a kitchen to the rear.

A whiteboard on the wall reads, “THURSDAY: Roast pork with gravy and apple, or french lamb casserole, and veggies.”

Barney twice offers coffee or tea or water or biscuits before we sit. He’s wearing a plaid flannel shirt, and speaks calmly. But just over a week before we spoke, he was standing outside Sydney Town Hall, yelling into a megaphone and comparing the state government’s plan to Nazism.

“We’re gonna stay in our places FOREVER,” he and over a dozen protesters shouted, their voices coldly subsumed by the wind.

In March, Pru Goward, then Minister for Family and Community Services, revealed that the state government will relocate the 590 evicted residents and reinvest the proceeds from the sale of their homes back into the social housing system, which has over 57,000 people on its waiting list.

Affected residents immediately received a letter from Family & Community Services titled “MOVING TO A NEW HOME”.

The letter opened with, “I am writing to you today to inform you that government owned properties in Millers Point area [sic] will be sold, including the home you occupy.”

Three residents died and two others were hospitalised in the following weeks.

“It can’t be directly attributed to what’s going on, but we know [the letter] did affect them,” Barney says, shuffling the newspapers and documents which sit in piles on the table between us.

As the convener of the Millers Point, Dawes Point & The Rocks Public Housing Tenants Group, Barney speaks for many residents who cannot represent themselves.

According to Barney, Millers Point is “under attack” from a “blitzkrieg” whose main tactic is harassment via Specialist Relocations Officers, aka the government “goons”.

“We don’t wanna have a violent confrontation, but if they force that upon us that’s their doing, not ours," he says. “We’ll just be linking arms and chaining ourselves to gates and doorways.”

Specialist social agency Cred Community Planning were commissioned by the Department of Housing in 2012 to develop a Social Impact Assessment for Millers Point.

The assessment was only made publicly available on the day of Pru Goward’s sale announcement. Cred’s assessment declared that the public housing in Millers Point “is not generally considered suitable as social housing dwellings”, due to the expense of internal upgrades, high maintenance liabilities, and the fact that many buildings aren’t Building Code of Australia compliant.

In her sale announcement, Goward claimed that almost $7 million had been spent on property maintenance over the last two years alone.

Cred recommended that some of the funds from the sale of homes in and around Millers Point be used to build new social housing properties nearby, especially for elderly residents, adding that they may experience “ongoing negative impacts of stress and poor health outcomes”.

The state government dismissed this recommendation, and said that they want elderly residents to “build connections in their new communities”.

Cred’s assessment also noted that 55 per cent of Millers Point tenants have lived in the area for over 10 years, and that 12 households have lived in the suburb for at least five generations.

For many residents, the state government’s plan to sell their homes is not only an attack on the basis of their livelihoods but an attack on their emotional and historical links to the suburb.

For many, including Barney, it’s a losing battle.

“My mind wanders to despair because I see the elderly people here. The despair and the look in their eyes, the sound of their voice. But that helps me keep focused on what we’re trying to do,” he says. “Would the Americans allow a McDonalds to be built on Plymouth Rock?” Barney suddenly asks.

“[Millers Point] is only going to be, eventually, for the rich,” he says. “The root of all evil in this is money, nothing else.”

In an opinion piece published by Fairfax Media, Pru Goward claimed that there is “no room for nostalgia” when discussing the fate of Millers Point. Goward cites what she believes to be only “short term anguish [the move] may cause some tenants”.Barney doesn’t agree.

Barney Gardner, born and bred in Millers Point, but being moved out of the suburb as the NSW Government sells the community out from under him. IMAGE: Angela Nicholson.

“I remember one day they had about 10 kids in ‘em,” Barney says, describing the billy carts that he and his childhood friends used to race down some of Millers Point’s steepest hills. The carts were home-made, with timber from the wharves and metal ball bearings from the maritime machine shop.

 

Barras, they were called. “There’s no footy oval, there’s no cricket pitch. So our playground was the streets,” Barney says.

 

Throughout its history, Millers Point’s wharf lineage has been its backbone. Wharf workers, including Barney’s father, used to make their way down onto Hickson Road at half-past six each morning to line up for work along ‘The Hungry Mile’, which leads from Walsh Bay to Darling Harbour.

Barney’s mother worked nearby in the wharf canteen. Her family was poor, as were most others in the suburb.

As a baby, Barney’s sister often slept in a dresser drawer. The Maritime Services Board owned much of the housing in Millers Point until an audit in the early 1980s made residents Housing Commission (now Housing NSW) tenants by default.

Barney, who has worked in the city council, in wool stores and with a local electrician, also ended up working in the waterfront around shipyards. “These houses were purposefully built for the maritime industry workers, people who worked in the wharves, went to sea, worked in stores, all manner of maritime industry,” he says.

Decades before his waterfront work, Barney and his childhood chums used to sneak past the wharf watchmen to get the best fishing spots. They would race their bikes around the streets of Millers Point, and learn to swim down at the Metal Wharf on Walsh Bay, which now houses offices and expensive condominiums.

“That was all our fun, and we wouldn’t swap it for anything else because it was really, really a good time,” he says. “A hard time but a good time.”

“It has been a wonderful life,” he says, before quickly self-countering. “It’s been hard... we’ve been blamed for a lot of things in this area since it first evolved, and one was the bubonic plague. Then they found out it was the fleas on the rats.... No one wanted to live here.”

The New South Wales state government has already begun searching for potential buyers for the high-value properties in and around Millers Point, asking for expressions of interest in both private and commercial circles. Beginning on the 13th May this year, the state government also began showing prospective one-bedroom public housing apartments to the Millers Points residents who are being moved out.

Between 10am and 12pm each Tuesday, in the Phillips Room of the Sirius building, the properties are shown on television screens. Residents interested in the apartments have to bid against each other, before the bids are collected and the winners drawn from a ballot.

Locals are calling it a “public housing lotto”. What’s more, if you miss the lotto the Housing department will decide where you’ll end up moving to.

The blue government-produced banner in the centre of the Phillips Room reads: My Property Choice.
Many Millers Point residents are concerned that a number of the places they’re being shown are in the Sydney suburb of Redfern, which has a crime rate well above the state average, while Millers Point is well below.

Yet, with over 57,000 people on the public housing waiting list, there’s a crucial unanswered question, “Why are they finding us places [to move to] but they can’t find people on the waiting list places?” Barney asks.

Barney wants to live out the rest of his life in Millers Point - to “age in place” is the phrase preferred by Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore. Yet there’s an overarching fear that residents can only go along with the state government’s ‘decide what you want or we’ll decide for you’ proposal.
“We’re fearful that the vulnerable people will be signed up and put in one of these places, what we call ‘rat holes’,” Barney says with a smirk. The people who built Millers Point now feel as worthless as the rats who once caused them so much trouble.

Elderly locals are quietly gathering for Thursday lunch as I leave the Harry Jensen Activity Centre. Outside, on the painted wooden panels of the bus shelter, a message has been written in dark permanent marker.
“People before Profit!”

Discuss this article

Read Thomas Williams's full bio

- See more at: https://newmatilda.com/2014/08/16/millers-point-community-sale#sthash.Lm00KRZB.dpuf

RESOURCED: https://newmatilda.com/2014/08/16/millers-point-community-sale 

LORD MAYOR CLOVER MOORE's LETTER TO THE HON. BRAD HAZZARD; MP

THE LORD MAYOR OF SYDNEY
CLOVER MOORE


2 7 APR 2015

The Hon. Brad Hazzard MP

Minister for Family and Community Services
Minister for Social Housing
GPO Box 5341
Sydney NSW 2001
By email office@hazzard.minister.nsw.gov.au

Dear Brad

Congratulations

I write to congratulate you on your appointment to the Family and Community Services and Social Housing portfolios.

I look forward to working cooperatively with you for the benefit of our residents on the critical issues of housing affordability, provision of social housing, and homelessness within the City of Sydney Local Government Area (I-GA).

Sydney is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis that is threatening its economic and social sustainability. The cost of buying or renting private market housing in the inner-city is increasingly beyond the reach of low and middle-income earners, there is limited supply of key worker affordable housing; a lengthy, growing waiting list for social housing; and, rising homelessness.

I would like to offer you a briefing on the City of Sydney's Housing Issues Paper, which contains a range of proposals for Local, State and Federal Government to work together to improve housing affordability and diversity. The City is currently working with Urban Growth NSW to investigate opportunities for affordable housing on a number of urban renewal sites.

I read with interest your comments in the Sydney Morning Herald that you would consider retaining some public housing in Millers Point, recognising the impact of relocation on long-term elderly residents.
I strongly encourage the retention of some public housing in Millers Point, especially the Sirius apartment building, which was purpose-built for social housing and is home to mostly elderly residents.

I would also like to bring a delegation of Millers Point residents to meet with you.

The social impact study undertaken by SGS Economics and Planning for the Government stated that removing older residents from their homes could have negative health impacts. City officer's delivering services in Millers Point and The Rocks have reported significant levels of distress amongst tenants who do not want to relocate because of a long term commitment to the area and their wellestablished connections to neighbours and support services.

Sydney Town Hali 483 George Street Sydney NSW/ 2000
Phone 02 9265 9229 Fax 02 9265 9328 cmoore@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
O OLM2015 002348 HAZZARD CONGRATULATIONS MEETING REQUEST

The City remains concerned that the Government hasn't made a commitment to build new housing in inner Sydney or that plans for spending the proceeds of the sale on new social housing stock have not yet been made public.

Your staff can contact Julianne Brewer, Manager Executive Support on 9265 9591 or at jbrewer@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au  to arrange a meeting.
Clover ore

Lord Mayor of Sydney

MILLERS POINT: CITY COUNCIL of SYDNEY NOTICE of MOTION. MON. 27th APR. 2015‏

ITEM 14.7 Millers Point 27 April 2015 

It is resolved that: 

1. Council note: 

 

1. the new Minister for Social Housing, Brad Hazzard, has stated his commitment to transparency for the Millers Point sell-off process through setting up a bank account specifically for the proceeds; 

the Minister has recognised the importance of maintaining the older residents within the community of Millers Point; and 

the City's recommendation for continued commitment to providing support to the Millers Point community through financial aid to the Redfern Legal Centre; 

2. Council welcome the Minister's statement that he would consider retaining some public housing in Millers Point; and 

3. Council note that the Lord Mayor has written to the Minister for Social Housing, to. 

reconfirm the City's commitment to working with the State Government on the critical issues of social housing provision, homelessness and housing affordability in the City of Sydney; 

2. request that the Lord Mayor and a delegation of Millers Point residents meet with the Minister; 

3. strongly encourage the retention of some public housing in Millers Point, especially the Sirius apartment building; and 

reiterate the City's concerns that the NSW Government has not made a commitment to build new housing in inner Sydney or release details on how the proceeds of sale will be spent on new social housing. 

Calling on Minister Hazzard to open the door to Millers Point Residents

Posted on April 24, 2015 | Leave a comment   

      

This Council cycle my Notice of Motion will call on new Minister for Social Housing, Brad Hazzard, to meet with Millers Point residents and place their health ahead of the Government’s asset sales.

 Recent comments by the new Minister indicate that he is willing to consider the human impact of this sale. I remain hopeful that the Minister will recognise the strong case presented by the residents and find a way to compromise on the remaining homes.

Around half of the residents have been moved out in the last year. The psychological strain placed on these vulnerable residents, both those who have already moved and those who are fighting to remain in place, has been immeasurable. It is vital that we seize the opportunity to establish a working relationship with the new Minister.

Aside from this my notice of motion also calls on the Minister to make public the Government’s detailed plan for how the money from the property sale will be spent. To date $27 million has been raised.

Last week it was announced that some of the money has been used to finance new public housing units in Lurnea. Moving inner city public housing tenants to the fringes of the metropolitan area isn’t the answer.

While I support the creation of new public housing stock the Government needs to create more right across Sydney, especially in inner-city areas where there is better public transport, health services and employment access. The Macquarie Fields riots of 2005 sent a strong message that moving large public housing estates on the suburban fringes is poor social policy. Ten years on the Government needs to understand that location and design play a strong element in the social outcomes of public housing estates.

Sydney is a city of strong socio-economic divides. If we are going to meet the challenges of the future it is critical that place diversity at the front and centre of all our communities.

You can read my notice of motion here.

RESOURCED: https://clrdoutney.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/calling-on-minister-hazzard-to-open-the-door-to-millers-point-residents/ 

Grant to Redfern Legal Centre for Millers Point Residents

Posted on April 24, 2015 | Leave a comment      

      

When former Family and Community Services Minister Pru Goward announced the sale of public housing properties in Millers Point in March last year, she began the process of destroying the Millers

Point Public Housing Community. In the past 12 months half of the public housing residents have been moved to other properties. For many of these residents it has meant leaving their friends and community behind and often finding themselves socially isolated.

Last April the City gave the Redfern Legal Centre, who are specialists in public housing related issues, a grant of $100 000 to provide advocacy and advice to the affected tenants. During this time 130 tenants have received support from the Centre. They are now seeking an additional $50 000 funding for another six months.

Of the remaining residents a large number are elderly and have disabilities and complex needs. There will be considerable pressure on these vulnerable residents to leave within the next year to fit in with the Government’s sale deadline. This support is critical when you consider the issues some tenants face including finding appropriate properties to meet their mobility needs in terms of physical access and transport, psychological impacts and social isolation, as well as domestic support needs. Some of these residents may also be finding that they no longer meet the Department of Family and Community Services’ criteria for public housing.

I will continue to support these residents in their fight to stay in their homes. It is critically important that these residents receive this independent support. I want to thank the staff at Redfern Legal Centre for their ongoing work and dedication to these residents. Given the scope and complexity of this work I believe this grant is not only appropriate but also excellent value for money in terms of the services it provides

For those of you wishing to support the residents you can sign the following petitions:
Save Myra from eviction
Save Flo from eviction
Save Mrs Vo from eviction
Save the Millers Point Workers Flats

RESOURCED: https://clrdoutney.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/grant-to-redfern-legal-centre-for-millers-point-residents/ 

A dozen Millers Point homes to hit the market as State Government’s public housing sell-off continues

This property at 39 Kent St, Millers Point, is expected to fetch more than $1.6 million. Source: Supplied

A FURTHER 12 properties will soon be sold as a part of Government Property NSW’s Millers Point sell off, with the first three of the lot currently on the market. 

        

A three-bedroom terrace at 39 Kent St is expected to sell for more than $1.6 million at auction, in line with the prices fetched for some of the previously sold properties.


A four-bedroom terrace at 51 Kent St and a five-bedroom terrace at no. 49 are also currently on the market and are expected to fetch well above $1.6 million.



McGrath agent Peter Starr is selling two former public housing properties in Millers Point. Source: Supplied

McGrath Edgecliff’s Peter Starr, who is listed as a selling agent on two of the three properties, said the homes had received a good number of inquiries since being listed on April 13.

He said buyers were attracted to the style and location of the homes and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to buy the heritage properties, despite some of them being in a dilapidated state.


“No. 39 would probably require a bit more work than the other two, the other two are definitely
livable,” Mr Starr said.


He said the heritage conservation guidelines that came with the properties had not deterred buyers.



The home at 39 Kent St, Millers Point requires a bit of work. Source: Supplied

   

Late last year, City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore proposed a plan to change the guidelines and prevent buyers from extending the homes in any way.


As a result, the NSW Heritage Council has asked for the area’s planning controls to be reviewed.


NATIONAL TRUST: MILLERS POINT SALES WILL DEVASTATE AREA’S HERITAGE


RESIDENTS RALLY TO SAVE HOMES


“The City’s view is that the existing height and floor space of a property within the Millers Point Heritage Conservation Area should be used as the new planning control. Minor changes to properties may be considered if the changes don’t jeopardise their heritage value,” Ms Moore said.


“These new planning controls will help protect these buildings as they move into private ownership. The proposal has the strong support of the Central Sydney Planning Committee — a joint City of Sydney and NSW Government planning body.”

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has proposed a plan preventing buyers from adding floor space to the existing properties. Source: News Corp Australia

Currently approval must be sought from the NSW Heritage Council if the new owners of the heritage homes wish to make any changes that affect the physical fabric of the place, including the buildings themselves.

A spokesman from the department of Family and Community Services said if a property is listed as a heritage item at both the State and local level, approval for any change to the property is required from the City of Sydney Council and Heritage Council of NSW.


“These properties are listed on the State Heritage Register, and under Section 118 — Minimum standards of maintenance and repair, requires that the owner must ensure the ongoing protection, weatherproofing, security and ongoing maintenance of the property,” the spokesperson said.



For sale: 49 Kent St, Millers Point. Source: Supplied

    

For sale: 51 Kent St, Millers Point. Source: Supplied

    To date, Government Property NSW has sold 12 out of the 293 propertiesthat were used as government housing, making just under $26.8 million.

The terraces along Kent St, Argyle Place, Windmill St and Lower Fort St have sold for between $1.624 million and $3.95 million.


Minister for Family and Community Services, Brad Hazzard, recently announced that the money made from the sales so far has been put into building 10 new two-bedroom seniors living dwellings in Lurnea in Sydney’s south west. The apartments are nearing completion with 99 new properties also underway in another 11 suburbs.


The three Kent St properties will go under the hammer on Thursday, May 14 at 6pm.

39 Kent St, Millers Point

MILLERS POINT FOR SALE: RESULTS SO FAR


26/08/2014: 29 Lower Fort St - $2.56m
21/08/2014: 119 Kent St - $1.911m
25/09/2014: 86 Windmill St - $2.27m
11/09/2014: 11 Lower Fort St - $3.95m
11/09/2014: 23 Lower Fort St - $2.685m
8/10/2014: 30 Argyle Place - $1.71m
5/12/2014: 24 Argyle Place - $2.35m
5/12/2014: 28 Argyle Place - $2.302m
5/12/2014: 32 Argyle Place - $2.15m
17/03/2015: 41 Kent St - $1.624m
16/03/2015: 43 Kent St - $1.625m
5/03/2015: 47 Kent St - $1.64m


LET US KNOW: DO YOU AGREE WITH HOW THE SALES PROCEEDS ARE BEING SPENT?

FACS banks Millers Point sales

The first homes built from the proceeds of Millers Point public housing have been unveiled by the Minister for Family and Community Services, Brad Hazzard.

 

The Minister said a separate bank account had been established for the Millers Point proceeds and the account of sales and capital outlays on new dwellings will be reported in the Family and Community Services (FACS) annual report.

"The projected proceeds from the Millers Point property sales, expected to be about $500 million - will be re-invested into some 1,500 new social housing dwellings, allowing more people on the waiting list to be housed faster," Mr Hazzard said.

First homes built from proceeds

"Developments will occur in areas of identified need for more social housing." The initial phase will focus on Sydney's south-east and south-west and the Illawarra-Shoalhaven area and Nepean-Blue Mountains areas.

Speaking during a site visit to Lurnea where 10 new two-bedroom dwellings for seniors are nearing completion, Mr Hazzard said the sales proceeds and savings in maintenance were vital to the supply of new and additional housing.

"Here at Lurnea and in another 11 suburbs, construction is under way on 99 new dwellings which include easily-maintainable one and two-bedroom units designed for singles and the elderly and three-bedroom homes for families," he said.

Mr Hazzard said 12 Millers Point properties had been sold, generating $26.8 million and a further three properties were now on the market.

"The Government will sell 293 properties in Millers Point to help finance a more sustainable public housing system," he said.

The Minister said new housing funded by the proceeds was under way in Condell Park, Padstow, Warilla, Mount Warrigal, Chester Hill, Yagoona, Gymea, Kingswood, Casula, Beverly Hills and Miranda.

#‎savemillerspoint‬ 

RESOURCED: http://www.psnews.com.au/nsw/Page_NSWpsn4096.html 

Millers Point state government terrace sell-off resumes post-election

Jonathan Chancellor | 21 April 2015

Three more surplus government-owned property at Millers Point have been listed.

#‎savemillerspoint‬


They are all on Kent Street including 51 Kent Street (pictured above), which is an 1855 terrace.

The Georgian-style terrace is listed for 14 May auction through Peter Starr at McGrath Estate Agents.
The terraces at 39 and 49 Kent Street are also for sale. The 39 Kent Street was built for solicitor/politician Sir George Wigram Allen

The 47 Kent Street was auctioned last year at $1.64 million.

Properties sold late last year included 24, 28 and 32 Argyle Place fetching $2.3 million, $2.35 million and $2.15 million respectively.

The NSW government is proceeding with plans to sell the remaining 284 properties so funds can be reinvested back into the public housing system.

The government-owned properties in Millers Point secured a total of $21.9 million from the initial nine sales.
















RESOURCED: http://www.propertyobserver.com.au/finding/location/nsw/42063-millers-point-state-government-terrace-sell-off-resumes-post-election.html 

Millers Point homestead to fetch $4 million

Grimes Cottage at 50 Argyle Place is a Colonial Georgian freestanding home with six bedrooms, north-facing gardens, a self-contained studio flat and views of the Harbour Bridge and The Rocks from a sprawling verandah at the rear. 

Located less than 10 minutes walk to the CBD and set across 416 square metres, the 1830s home is regarded as a jewel within a portfolio of social housing in the area now being offloaded for private ownership.

The controversial sales campaign, which is expected to generate more than $500 million for new housing projects outside the city, has been criticised as a backflip on goals of social integration and for uprooting elderly residents and families who have been in the area for decades.

Despite a fiercely fought campaign by residents and high profile supporters including Lord Mayor Clover Moore, activist Jack Mundey and artist Dare Jennings, the sell-off has progressed and raised more than $27 million to date from the sale of 12 homes - averaging $2.2 million each.  

Grimes Cottage is one in a slab of four terraces that are the latest to come to market this month, and one of just two freestanding homes within the Government's Millers Point portfolio.

McGrath agent Richard Shalhoub holds the listing. 

"It offers scope to restore a charming cottage into a substantial six bedroom family home in a historic Harbour front precinct," the agent said.

in early April that some of the proceeds from Millers Point sales will go to building 10 public housing units at Lurnea, in Sydney's south-west.

Units in the $2.8 million complex are among about 1500 new public housing dwellings built from the proceeds of the controversial sale, which is expected to reap upwards of $500 million.

According to the Government, every Millers Point property sold can fund the construction of five properties elsewhere.

 

RESOURCED: RESOURCED: http://www.afr.com/real-estate/millers-point-homestead-to-fetch-4-million-20150421-1mp8eh

 

Millers Point residents continue to fight evictions as NSW Government argues sell-off will fund 'five-for-one' housing deal

By Thuy Ong  Posted Thu at 9:58pmThu 16 Apr 2015    

Some Millers Point residents have draped banners over their balconies protesting the Government's local housing sell-off.

       

Related Story: National Trust slams Millers Point public housing sell-off

Five new homes will be funded through the sale of each house sold at Sydney's Millers Point, the New South Wales Government says.

 

The Government has unveiled the first batch of housing built with the proceeds of the contentious sell-off, and also promised houses would be built in Sydney's south-east and south-west, the Illawarra region and the Blue Mountains.

The predominately elderly community at harbourside Millers Point has been fighting eviction from their homes, and some say they know of several residents who have taken their own lives.

However, the Government argues the lucrative properties must be sold to address the state's housing shortage.

According to the Social Development Council, there are more than 56,000 people on the NSW public housing waiting list.

Waiting times for houses depend on the location, but most inner city houses have at least a 10-year wait, government statistics show.



Millers Point resident Barney Gardner, 65, said he would fight his eviction in court

 

"Families, couples, singles who have been waiting for accommodation will now have a greater chance of getting accommodation in our social housing system," Family and Community Services Minister Brad Hazzard said.

The sale of 293 houses at Millers Point - some more than a century old - is expected to generate $500 million.

Twelve properties sold to date have raised $26.8 million.

One Argyle Street house is expected to fund 13 social housing properties. The home was built in the early 1830s by whaling captain George Grimes and boasts views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Local residents fighting the sell-off plan have draped protest banners over balconies on the street.

"My great concern is for the elderly people here," said 65-year-old Barney Gardner, who has lived at Millers Point all his life.

"They say we're getting special consideration, by picking the suburb we want to [live in], but there might not be a dwelling in the suburb we want to go.

"They'll have to evict me and I'll go through the court system.

"You can take a person out of their home but you cannot replace their health and safety."

Mr Hazzard today unveiled 10 new units funded by sales at Millers Point.

A unit complex at Lurnea in Sydney's west is worth $2.8 million.

He said the properties represented a better use of taxpayers' money than the Millers Points houses, many of which required costly ongoing maintenance due to their age.

"The balancing act here is trying to make sure we free up what is a vast amount of taxpayer's dollars potentially to address all the other folks who are waiting for social housing," he said.

He said he would try to ensure Millers Point residents did not have to move too far from their existing community.

"It is a tough ask in moving from places you've been for a long while and I'm certainly asking and instructing and engaging the department to do it in a sensitive way," he said.


RESOURCED: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-16/nsw-government-says-millers-point-to-fund-housing-deal/6398552 

Sydney Harbour Control Tower headed for demolition

by: GREG BROWN  From: The Australian       

• April 16, 2015 12:00AM
• Greg Brown

Property Reporter

Sydney

 

The NSW government has decided to demolish the controversial Sydney Harbour Control Tower. Source: News Limited

         

The NSW government has decided to demolish the controversial Sydney Harbour Control Tower at the Barangaroo-end of the Sydney CBD, sources say. The decision may force Millers Point public housing residents to move out earlier than expected. 
        

The government wanted to wait until after the state election to make an announcement, with the likelihood that the residents would have to leave because of safety concerns, sources said.

The state government is selling about 300 public houses near the tower, with residents initially expected to move out by the first half of 2016.

The government was coy when contacted yesterday.

“An application to demolish the Sydney Harbour Control Tower as part of the Barangaroo Headland Park project is being assessed by the department, but no decision has been made,” a spokesman said.

The NSW government-controlled Barangaroo Delivery Authority submitted a planning application in April last year to demolish the tower, which was built in 1974 to monitor ships on Sydney Harbour.

The tower has not been used since 2011 and has been criticised as an unattractive part of the skyline.

But it also has admirers and its demolition will draw intense criticisms from the National Trust, which has lobbied to have the tower placed on the heritage register. Its demolition may coincide with the construction of Barangaroo Point park.

Residents and unions unite against public housing sell-off

By Darrin Barnett  Tuesday, 24 March 2015

MILLERS Point – a tiny pocket of land with million dollar views of Sydney Harbour – has long been a home to working men and women and has strong connections to maritime unions.

The NSW Government last year announced its intention to sell-off 293 public housing properties in a two-year timeframe, in what is reputed to be the longest inhabited suburb since European settlement.
To mark one year since the Baird Government announced the sale of public housing at Millers Point, Dawes Point and the Rocks on 19 March, residents and supporters met at NSW Parliament House for a preview screening of a documentary telling their story.

Generations of members of the Waterside Workers’ Federation and Seamen’s Union of Australia and their families and descendents have called the area home.

The Rocks area was famously saved by the Green Bans of the 1970s, led by Jack Mundey from the Builders’ Labourers Federation, who features in the documentary, Forced Out.

No reply from the Premier

After paying his respects to traditional owners, resident Barney Gardner read to the audience from a letter sent to Premier Mike Baird. He has not yet received a reply, nor did the Premier or anyone from his Government attend the event.

Gardner, a former Painter & Docker, has been living in Millers Point for 65 years, long before the public housing was transferred to Housing NSW from the Maritime Services Board in the 1980s.

“One suspects Premier Baird that you and your [Community Services] Minister Gabrielle Upton will not talk to us because you are both afraid to look into the tear-filled eyes of the elderly, the pain on the faces of the disabled and the despair in the hearts of our most vulnerable,” he said.

“The feeling is that you and your government have abandoned us, making us feel sub-human, past our use-by-date, if you must, with little conscience as to how you are mistreating us. Shame!
“Your government and previous governments have placed many disadvantaged and vulnerable people within our community whom we have welcomed, nurtured and protected because you will not.

“You seem to have forgotten the multitude of public and social housing tenants who have been law-abiding citizens and have served this community, this city, this state and this country so well for many years.”

‘An act of social cleansing’

The documentary was followed by a question and answer panel with academics, activists and experts discussing the plans for Millers Point, Dawes Point and Sirius building at The Rocks.

Maritime Union of Australia NSW Branch Secretary Paul McAleer said the sell-off was an act of social cleansing by trying to exclude those who aren’t well-off from the city and its surrounds.
“This is social and political Darwinism – survival of the wealthiest,” he said. “Houses have no value but homes are priceless.

“Long live Millers Point, Dawes Point and The Rocks as a community not as a rich enclave of thieves.”

The film features Graham Quint (director of advocacy, The National Trust), Tanya Plibersek (Federal Member for Sydney), Jack Mundey (unionist and environmentalist), Paul Vevers (executive director of housing services, Department of Family and Community Services), Gabrielle Upton (NSW Minister for Family and Community Services), Professor Peter Phibbs (Professor of Urban Planning, University of Sydney), Bob Flood (lifetime resident and retired wharf worker), Barney Gardner (lifetime resident and retired wharf worker).


WATCH: a preview of Forced Out
 

RESOURCED: http://workinglife.org.au/2015/03/24/residents-and-unions-unite-against-millers-point-sell-off/ 

Plans by the NSW Liberal government to sell off prime real estate on the current site of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney’s CBD have aroused widespread anger.

NSW premier Mike Baird has pledged $10 million to relocate the museum to Parramatta, despite the fact that no new site for the museum has been set aside. The sale is expected to generate $200 million for the government.

Developers are salivating: John Zheng from LJ Hooker told Fairfax that “the highest and best value for it will be apartment blocks”.

It’s the latest in a spate of public land sell-offs in the Sydney CBD and surrounding areas, including the 22 hectares of public land given to developers of Barangaroo and the dozens of occupied public houses being sold off at Millers Point.

The independent state member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, said: “From Millers Point housing to sandstone heritage government office buildings, one by one the government is relocating inner city functions and services and selling assets for redevelopment without needed open space and community facilities.”

Labor candidate for Balmain Verity Firth said the Liberal government’s announcement that it will sell the site in Ultimo and move the Powerhouse Museum to Sydney’s west just added to the list of valuable assets being sold off.

“Mike Baird is blackmailing the people of western Sydney: if you want arts and culture in western Sydney, you need to vote for my privatisation agenda.”

Community groups say the plans are part of an out-of-control privatisation agenda being pursued across the state. The convener of Pyrmont Action, Elizabeth Elenius, told AltMedia: “To sell the site for private development would be a betrayal of the public interest and, once again, demonstrates that the government treats our heritage and community with disdain when the mighty developer dollar beckons.”

RESOURCED:http://redflag.org.au/article/sell-offs-continue-sydney-cbd