DR SALLY Townley, who stood as an independent candidate for Coffs Harbour in last week’s State election, believes the NSW Government’s plan for redevelopment of the Argyll St area may actually result in a reduction of social housing.

Through the Freedom of Information process, Dr Townley obtained the Expression of Interest document that the government used to attract private partners to the project.

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“The document clearly says that the Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) who own and manage most of the government’s social housing portfolio does not intend to make a financial contribution to the project,” Dr Townley said.

Dr Townley, a City of Coffs Harbour councillor and the Deputy Mayor, said she was horrified to learn that the minimum target requirement will simply be replacement of the existing number of public homes, with no planned increase.

But, she said, it’s actually a decrease if the number of bedrooms is used as a measure.

Dr Townley said that currently the 129 existing public houses in the area consist of 28 two-bedroom homes, 73 three-bedroom homes, 21 four-bedroom homes and one five-bedroom home, a total of 364 bedrooms.

The document she obtained specifies the planned composition of the new homes to be 50 percent one-bedroom homes, 25 percent two-bedroom homes, fifteen percent three-bedroom homes and ten percent four-bedroom homes for a total of around 234 bedrooms.

Concerns are held that the number of three-bedroom homes, currently the most common size of homes in the estate, will be reduced from the more than 70 currently occupied to just 20.

“The plan is to replace only the existing number of houses, but they will be smaller and only have two thirds the number of current bedrooms,” she said.

Dr Townley said Argyll St tenants are terrified of being forced to move out during the build and raised concerns over a lack of certainty around where they will live or on project time frames.

She said many of these homes have larger-than-average numbers of occupants, with extended families and multiple generations under one roof.

The newly re-elected Member for Coffs Harbour, Gurmesh Singh, said that the majority of the existing social dwellings at Argyll Estate were built in the 1960s and 1970s and are no longer fit for purpose.

He said they are in declining condition and do not cater for the needs of social housing tenants on the waitlist because very few meet modern design, environmental and accessibility requirements.

“The redevelopment of the estate will add an additional 263 homes comprising of social, affordable and private housing close to shops, schools, and other facilities.”

Dr Townley said the government’s business model around social housing needs urgent overhaul and should put the tenant’s rights at the forefront.

“These people are among the most vulnerable in the community and benefit from having secure and affordable housing,” she said.

By Andrew VIVIAN