Local social housing advocates have called for the state government to make good on its promise to build the new homes promised as part of the cancelled 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The proposed athletes village near Waurn Ponds railway station was set to create around 700 social housing properties to the region, but the Games’ cancellation cast doubt on the delivery of those dwellings.
With more than 5000 households on the Victorian Housing Register priority list, Barwon & South West Homelessness Network (BSWHN) coordinator Rebecca Callahan called on the state government to commit to building a pipeline of community housing beyond the Big Housing Build.
“These households require urgent housing now,” Ms Callahan said.
“It is time to ramp up our investment in public and community housing to ensure women and children are not forced to stay in unsafe housing or homelessness, and that all people on this list can secure housing.”
To draw attention to the need for housing in the region, BSWHN placed 700 paper houses south of the Waurn Ponds station last week.
Earlier this month Minister for Housing Harriet Shing said the state government was committed to providing new dwellings that would help Victorians “establish a stable, secure foundation for their lives”.
“Everyone deserves a roof over their head and our $5.3 billion Big Housing Build is delivering new homes that will make a profound difference across the state,” she said.
“We are making record investments in regional Victoria through the Big Housing Build and Regional Housing Fund, with at least $2.25 billion to address the growing demand for housing where it’s needed and creating thousands of local jobs in the process.”
