Older public housing residents rally to save their homes

A large group of older residents from public housing towers slated for demolition descended on state parliament this month with a petition calling for the plan to be halted.

The protest came as part of the stepping up of a campaign against the loss of their “forever homes” by the Older Person’s High Rise residents of seven towers, including in Flemington, Kensington and North Melbourne.

The redevelopment of the group of seven towers, which includes buildings in St Kilda and Prahran, was announced as the “third tranche” of the government’s program to knock down and replace the 44 structures, with residents given the news in January that they would need to leave by early 2028.

Around 150 people, some of them quite elderly, gathered on Spring St on a wet wintry Wednesday and sang, chanted and protested for more than two hours while a delegation went into the parliament to try to meet with housing minister Nick Staikos.

Seventy-eight-year-old Elizabeth Ellis from 29 Crown St, Flemington, told North West City News the experience had been galvanising.

“It hit me in the face on Wednesday,” she said. “We are being targeted.”

For Ms Ellis being granted a public housing unit in the quiet Crown St complex for over 55s 12 years ago had been like “winning the golden ticket”.

Before that she had been homeless for nine years, relying on couch surfing, hostels and share houses – options that seriously reduced her control over her life.

Now she doesn’t just have housing stability but also community, she said, and for her, getting evicted means “not just losing your home; it’s losing your life.”

Deb Cardona’s father, John, who is suffering from cancer and had a heart attack early this year, has spent 29 years at Crown St.

As a young man the 84-year-old had actually worked digging the foundations of the building.

News of the eviction had hit him hard, his daughter said.

“We didn’t want to tell him, but we had to.”

While housing authorities are providing support to find new homes and resettle people into them, many of the vulnerable Crown St tenants are concerned about a shift from public to social housing, which will require them to pay market rate utility bills and buy their own washing machines.

They have also heard from former public housing tenants that rents, while initially equivalent, often increase after a guaranteed contract period.

At Crown St, there is a mood to fight the demolition.

Along with their trip to parliament, activist residents had been involved in a letterbox drop and engaging with neighbours, Ms Ellis said.

The demolition and the construction of new buildings would likely involve a lot of traffic, noise, dirt and cranes, she had told them and may even see nearby homes lose value.

“Everyone around here knows about [the issues] and I told them to watch [the protest on] TV on August 5,” she said.

In their next strategic move the residents plan to demand a mass meeting with their Homes Victoria housing officers.

The idea behind this is for residents to express: “We won’t accept what you offer us, except what we demand,” Mouli Ghosh, an organiser with protest group 44 Flats United (44 FU), said.

Ms Ghosh said there were past examples of public tenants banding together and defeating redevelopment plans when they mobilised a lot of supporters.

More public actions and more pressure on different politicians was planned, she said.

Ms Ellis said she was very hopeful that protest action would push back the date of demolition or lead to “an architect [who] will say that everything’s OK for the next 10, 20, 30 years.

“Because we’re just not ready to go.”

A spokesperson for the Victorian Government said that while the process wasn’t easy, “leaving older Victorians in unsafe, ageing buildings isn’t kindness – it’s neglect.”

“The age, condition, and overall structural constraints of the high-rise buildings mean they no longer meet the liveability, amenity, accessibility and energy efficiency standards our residents deserve,” the spokesperson said.

“We're supporting residents every step of the way to move into a better home, on their terms and with real support - not rushing anyone out the door.” 

The long-running legal battle over Victoria’s public housing tower demolition program will soon go before the High Court •