The following residents of the Australian Capital Territory draw to the attention of the Assembly that in August 2014 the Community Services Directorate Housing ACT Division (CSD) lodged a Development Application No. 201426052 (DA) with the Environment and Planning Directorate (EPD) for a multi-unit development in Narrabundah, with no community consultation.
The DA proposes demolition of four Old Canberra two-storey duplexes owned by ACT Housing and construction of eight units and an additional residence on an adjoining block. These new units on the corner of Boolimba Crescent and Mindarie Street would be collocated with an existing 10-unit ACT Housing development. This proposal would therefore create a cluster of ACT Housing in a residential neighbourhood that already has one of the highest representations of ACT Housing in Canberra and which the Australian Bureau of Statistics identifies as a pocket of disadvantage. Increasing the size of this social housing cluster in an area already disadvantaged, irrespective of community concerns, is inappropriate and at odds with the ACT Government's stated 'salt & pepper' aim of reducing concentrations of disadvantage and decentralising ACT Housing properties by building in new and under-represented areas.
Further, the community has lodged an application for inclusion of the 1949 duplexes on the Heritage Register. Demolition of the duplexes would have a significant detrimental impact on the highly desirable landscape character of the area due to permanent loss of the intrinsic features of the streetscape and an unreasonable negative impact on neighbouring properties and the suburb as an historic whole.
Finally, we believe it is incumbent on CSD, as a developer of social housing, to conduct pre-application consultation with neighbours and community stakeholders with an interest in successful integration of new social housing into their area.
Your petitioners, therefore, request the Assembly to recommend the Minister for ACT Housing withdraw DA No. 201426052 in light of strong community concerns, support the community application for Heritage listing of the subject duplexes and recommend CSD engage, as a matter of course, with the local community before lodging DAs relating to future multi-unit social housing developments.