Coast public housing comes under fire

Alex de Vos
A plan to bring public housing tenants to Torquay will fail because their “lifestyle” is incompatible with existing residents, according to a Surf Coast Shire councillor.
Keith Grossman said he would oppose the Surf Coast Shire plan to investigate provision of “affordable” homes at Torquay, including public housing.
“It’s not part of the lifestyle the people on the Surf Coast want,” he said.
“We don’t want to encourage it.”
State Government has announced a $50,000 grant for Surf Coast Shire to develop plans for “affordable housing that engage the private sector, social and/or public housing” in the Spring Creek urban growth area.
Other suburbs taking part in the Government’s Local Action on Affordable Housing project include Melbourne’s Footscray, Preston, Northcote and Doncaster.
Cr Grossman said a public housing precinct would also clash with other residential developments at Torquay.
“I’ve seen the planning for future developments in Torquay and it just wouldn’t fit,” he said.
“I can’t see how it would work.”
But state Member for South Barwon Michael Crutchfield, who lives near Torquay at Mount Duneed, welcomed the project.
“We want Torquay to embrace people from all income levels,” he said.
“It makes a healthy community.”
Mr Crutchfield said growth pressures on the Surf Coast meant the shire must deliver “more-affordable housing”.
The shire had applied for the project funding, he said.
The shire’s application was strong because it included a “greenfield site” at Spring Creek to incorporate cheaper housing.
“I’m looking forward to Surf Coast Shire working with developers and the social housing sector to deliver affordable housing solutions.”
A shire spokesperson was unable to say how the project would work to lower housing costs in the Spring Creek area.
“We’re talking two or three years away,” he said.