Waterloo Green Neighbourhood Project - politics muddy the distribution of public housing funds

“I welcome any measures to curb crime and anti-social behaviour in public housing estates, as well as keeping residences in a liveable condition” Clr Doutney, herself a public housing tenant, said.  “However the sudden injection of funds to Waterloo Green brings into stark contrast the situation of a number of other public housing estates, such as Joanna O’Dea Court in Camperdown, where residents have been desperately crying out for security and adequate maintenance.”

“I think it’s unlikely to be a coincidence that all this money is being spent in Premier Keneally’s parliamentary seat of Heffron, in an area that also falls into her portfolio as Minister for Redfern Waterloo.” She said.  “On the other hand, Joanna O’Dea Court is in the seat of Balmain.  It seems like the ALP have concluded they have no hope of being re-elected in Balmain so are pulling the plug on services that they should be providing to residents there.”

Clr Doutney has visited Joanna O’Dea Court and spoken with its residents on many occasions, finding the situation there to be appalling.  “The building has a high proportion of elderly residents, many of whom are too scared to use the lifts in their own building after dark due to what they’ve witnessed there” she said.  “There are no measures in place to restrict public access to the building and residents tell me that they find used syringes in the hallways on a regular basis, that violence, public indecency and self harm are rife.  A couple of CCTV cameras and security doors would go a long way to alleviating the bulk of these problems.  It is shockingly unfair that HNSW can provide 60 new cameras in Waterloo Green but can’t even put one in each of the two lifts or entryways to Joanna O’Dea.”

All this comes as HNSW embarks on plans to spend $28 million building the Common Ground facility for the homeless directly next door to Joanna O’Dea Court.  “While measures to help the homeless are always welcomed, building this project right next to the homes of a large number of disadvantaged people is just poor planning.” Clr Doutney said.  “I suggested a number of other sites that could better accommodate this project but HNSW simply ignored me.  If they are going to insist on building Common Ground here the least that the state government should do is redirect some money to provide the residents of Joanna O’Dea with the maintenance and security that they deserve and so desperately need.”

Source: http://southern-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/waterloo-green-neighbourhood-project-politics-muddy-the-distribution-of-pub/