Friends,

It has been 6 weeks since my last update – there has been a lot of work going on stop our neighbours from being made homeless.

Over that time, we have met with our State Government member, the responsible State Government Minister, the Mayor and her executive (again) as well as other major party and independent City councillors. We have written multiple times to the State Premier, our local Federal member and the Federal Housing Minister.

Our call at the State Government level – implement an immediate moratorium (temporary until the housing crisis stabilises) via the Housing Policy to:

1.       Ban boarding house closures

2.       Ban boarding house evictions

3.       Freeze rent increases

4.       Protect boarding house safety and amenity

Our call at the Local Government level – buy the developer out and run the boarding houses.

So far, they have all declined to act.

We have had further media coverage in print, online and radio.

The most important event happened on September 21, when the developer (LFD Homes) lodged their updated Development Application including the required Social Impact Assessment (SIA). The SIA is an external report commissioned by the developer to describe the impact of the development on the community (including our boarding house neighbours).

The report contains an affidavit from the developer stating that they intend to close the boarding houses whether they win or lose the Land and Environment Court case.

This is a devastating outcome for our neighbours, and an appalling act of callousness by the developer. They did not even bother to tell our neighbours. That job fell to myself and a number of our team. We met with most of our neighbours last Monday night and broke the news. These are resilient and proud men, however it came as a blow to them all as you can imagine.

So, last week we:

·        Again, wrote to and spoke to politicians seeking their urgent action

·        Worked with the Sydney Morning Herald to run a story online and in print

·        Met with our lawyers to seek their advice on a number of options including applying to the Court for an injunction on the closure

Our neighbours again need your help. This is partly a numbers game – where the more numbers we get the higher the likelihood we will be able to influence the LEC to not only decline the appeal but to apply conditions to the decision to protect our neighbours.

1.       Submit an objection to the developer’s appeal. Below are suggested points to make:

·        30 mostly vulnerable people will be put out onto the street and into crisis accommodation queues that are around the block at best, and at worst they will be forced to sleep on the street

·        There is no alternative accommodation either in the area or in their price range and they will suffer significant financial hardship as a result of the closure of the boarding houses. Similar styles of accommodation start at around $350 per week. These men mostly pay between $150 and $250 a week rent. The dozen or so pensioners amongst them earn ~$570 per week.

·        Loss of community diversity

·        Loss of affordable housing – COS has a less that 2% vacancy rate

·        The callousness of the developer, who intends to close the boarding houses irrespective of the outcome of the land and environment court decision. This is both an intimidation tactic as well as a live threat to our neighbours.

·        There is a direct negative impact to the health and welfare of our neighbours who have been living under a cloud of uncertainty for the last 18 months

·        The developer hasn’t even told our neighbours that they intend to close the boarding houses and that they will be made homeless.

·        While it is technically legal to do what they’re doing, it is an ethical disgrace. The developer has deliberately targeted these residents – they know who lives there, the physical and mental health challenges that they face and the significant risk of homelessness that will result.

Write to the email address below. This has to be completed by October 8.

Attn: Daniel Stanley

City of Sydney

dasubmissions@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

2.       Submit a written statement for inclusion in the City of Sydney’s own SIA, on the impact of the development on the community. Below are suggested points to make:

·        30 mostly vulnerable people will be put out onto the street and into crisis accommodation queues that are around the block at best, and at worst they will be forced to sleep on the street

·        The uncertainty for our neighbours is incredibly stressful, as they know they have nowhere to go.

·        They are a family who will be broken up and scattered to all parts of the State if the developer gets their way.

Write to the email address below. This has to be completed by October 2.

engagement@urbis.com.au

Our neighbours are doing as well as they can and our team thank you again for your fantastic support. Our local community is staying close to them all.

Please share this update if you can.

Best wishes,

Mike