From spokesperson at redwatch.org.au Tue Jun 30 12:34:46 2026 From: spokesperson at redwatch.org.au (Geoff Turnbull (REDWatch Spokesperson)) Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2026 02:34:46 +0000 Subject: [North Eveleigh] No July 2 REDWatch / CHPs and Waterloo South / Opening George St to McEvoy / Raglan Street stays open / CWH HAFFF Green Square housing Message-ID: Dear REDWatch members, supporters and agencies, No REDWatch Meeting for July 2nd Why REDWatch thinks it timely for Community Housing Providers (CHPs) to talk to the community Council proposal for left in left out of George St at McEvoy St Raglan Street Bus Only Plan dropped New Social and Affordable Housing for Green Square Council Liaison for City Cleansing and Resource Recovery Please note - this email contains hyperlinks. This means that if you see a blue underlined word or phrase that you can click on it and go directly to a document or to get more information. No REDWatch Meeting for July 2nd There is lots to discuss but REDWatch was unable to lock either the Consortium CHPs in to talk about their experience in running social and affordable housing or Council to talk about its proposal to open up George Street Waterloo to McEvoy Street. Both said they needed more time, so hopefully by August we will have one of these. We did not see any point in just having a meeting without a speaker and focus. You will find later in this update more about why we thought it was timely for both these discussions. Why REDWatch thinks it timely for Community Housing Providers (CHPs) to talk to the community REDWatch tried earlier to have the CHPs along to a REDWatch meeting to tell people about themselves, but this did not eventuate at the last minute, so the advertised session did not eventuate. We have been told by Stockland that they are keen to come along but not for July. Given that Stockland is starting to work on building design and is looking soon to get tenant input into this design process REDWatch felt that tenants needed to know more about how the CHPs operate and manage buildings to be able to make useful input. We hence asked the CHPs to address the following questions from the perspective of the lived experience of Waterloo tenants: 1. Introduce themselves and what they currently do in social and affordable housing, and how does this differ from social housing run by Homes NSW (i.e. public housing) 2. What they have learnt from their running of social and affordable in particular about: * The buildings - build quality, accessibility and design * How do they manage buildings differently to Homes NSW (e.g. address building access swipe card v concierge response to non-resident access and Anti Social Behaviour) * Providing improved supports / wrap around support for tenants and how this interfaces with the wider service NGO and Govt service system 3. The Social Impact Management Plan says CHPs will be responsible for mitigating many of the adverse impacts from the redevelopment. How much of this is assumed from CHP business as usual and how much will need to be in additional to business as usual? 4. The plan looks like there may be instances where two CHPs jointly manage buildings. As is the case above the social housing above the Metro with Link Wentworth and Birribee. How is it envisaged this joint management will function? There are broader issues that CHPs may not be best placed to answer. * Such as why Homes NSW wants CHPs to run social housing rather than it. * The equity questions of why public housing tenants can't get the same "wrap around support" that CHPs are expected to offer their tenants. These are probably questions for senior management in Homes NSW to explain rather than the CHPs. One of the big drivers for Homes NSW both transferring management of existing public housing to CHPs or using CHPs to manage new housing from a redevelopment is the Commonwealth Rental Assistance (CRA) rules. CHPs can access CRA for low-income tenants, but Homes NSW cannot. The difference this makes is illustrated in an example City West provided to the South Sydney Herald for an article on its new Green Square housing development for the July 2026 edition (covered later in this update). City West says a pensioner on aged pension with clean energy supplement receives $532.70 and pays 25% of this in rent ($133.17) the same rent they would in public housing. The CHP tenant can also access CRA of $106.00. CRA which goes to the CHP as rent. As a result, the CHP gets $239.17 rent while Homes NSW only gets $133.17. In this example the tenant has the same disposable income after rent and the CHP gets almost 80% more rent than Homes NSW to house the same low-income tenant. In a public housing system strapped for cash with lots of low-income people, transferring tenants to CHPs has a strong financial argument. The impact of CRA also gets referenced in Lucy Gleeson's Redevelopment begins at Waterloo South as community debate intensifies in the July South Sydney Herald. REDWatch Spokesperson Geoff Turnbull also did an interview for Koori Radio News with K.L on The Waterloo Renewal Project; Glossy images vs community impact. Council proposal for left in left out of George St at McEvoy St The Waterloo South Concept Plan documents stated that "the City of Sydney are seeking to pursue a left in and left out from George Street, to McEvoy Street, however these discussions have not been finalised and will be assessed during the future detailed applications". Further, Council in its submission on the Concept Plan Council said: The desired future character of George Street is to be of a high street in nature. The proposed cul-de-sac design of the southern end of George Street at the McEvoy is not conducive to a local main street character and is recommended to be designed to allow for a left-in, left-out option. Further, a cul-de-sac design requires a larger turning circle, reducing the widths of footpaths and landscaping, and requires larger service vehicles including waste vehicles to complete complicated turns to return north along George Street. It is acknowledged that further analysis requires to be undertaken to ensure there are no adverse safety impacts to the existing bicycle network however, appropriate traffic impact modelling should be undertaken in this application to demonstrate an acceptable impact. The Design Guide and accompanying documents should note the preferred option and prioritise the delivery of this design to avoid a separate approvals process in the future. Given Council, in its submission was asking the Consortium to progress this proposal, REDWatch contacted Council for an explanation as to why it was pushing for this change. When the CHPs said they were unable to attend the July REDWatch we offered Council the opportunity to present on its proposal, but the notice was too short for them to prepare and for us to advertise. Council has however provided REDWatch with a written response which you can see on our website as Council on opening George Street to McEvoy Street Waterloo - 24 June 2026. In that letter Council states: Despite Waterloo South being a NSW Government Project, we have provided input to Transport for NSW (TfNSW) on how George Street would connect to McEvoy Street. However, the City of Sydney is not the final decision maker on the design. TfNSW will approve any access changes to McEvoy Street, and Stockland will deliver the project. They are yet to decide on a proposed design for this intersection, which is why you have not been notified yet. Our preferred option is to retain a vehicle connection between McEvoy Street and George Street. We have communicated this to TfNSW and Stockland. We support opening George Street so that it can become a local village high street where people walk, shop and spend time, similar in feel to the rejuvenated Crown Street. If George Street ended in a cul-de-sac, it would create practical challenges, including for waste trucks with large turning areas, which need to collect bins along George Street. This would reduce space for walking and cycling and create safety conflicts. We have a strong track record of transforming roads to pedestrian priority streets with greening, reduced lane widths and slow-moving vehicles. We also do not see a short cut or 'rat running' opportunity will exist as might be feared. Even where local high streets provide a potential through route, drivers tend to choose the most efficient corridors. This is evident on nearby streets such as Crown Street and Redfern Street, where drivers prefer adjacent State and Regional Roads designed to carry higher volumes of traffic. In Waterloo South, we expect people driving through the area to use Botany Road, Wyndham Street and McEvoy Street, which are the nearest State and Regional routes. The future neighbourhood of Waterloo should enjoy the same streetscape quality as other successful village high streets - and George Street has the potential to become such a local high street. We strongly support a low-speed, low-traffic environment if it opens to McEvoy Street. We would support signal phasing, traffic calming and road design that prioritises people walking and cycling. REDWatch is aware of concerns being raised by tenants to this proposal and REDWatch wants to see an opportunity for tenants to raise their concerns prior to this proposal being progressed. Raglan Street Bus Only Plan dropped One of REDWatch's concerns about the George Street proposal was that Council was also considering restricting Raglan Street to bus only opposite the Waterloo Metro as part of the proposed bike path extension along Henderson Road. Council also addressed this in its response to REDWatch saying: In response to community feedback, we are reviewing our proposal for the South Eveleigh to Waterloo Metro cycleway, including a bus-only section of Raglan Street, between Botany Road and Cope Street, which was originally a requirement put forward by TfNSW before they agreed to the proposal. We have heard that the community wants to keep this section of road open to general traffic, so we have negotiated with TfNSW to remove their requirement to create a bus-only part of Raglan Street. Our findings and decision will be reported at our Council meeting on 29 June. Council agreed at their meeting of 29th June 2026 to progress the Henderson Road bike path with the removal of traffic restrictions on Raglan Street. You can see the Council reports on this change in the documents for the 29th June 2026 Council documents. New Social and Affordable Housing for Green Square The following article by REDWatch Spokesperson Geoff Turnbull will appear in the July 2026 issue of the South Sydney Herald. It is reproduced here as it will be of interest to REDWatch update readers. City West Housing will deliver 135 social and 129 affordable rental apartments close to Green Square Station, on land between 330 Botany Road and 20 O'Riordan Street fronting the new Ngamuru Ave, which will connect Bowden Street in Alexandria to Geddes Avenue in Zetland. Council purchased industrial land for the new avenue and part has been on sold at a discount to City West Housing, as well as to St George Community Housing opposite for its 111-unit development. City West's $255m Acacia Apartments project is one of the latest housing projects funded through the Federal Government's Housing Australia Future Fund Facility (HAFFF). It also receives some affordable housing developer contributions from the City of Sydney, financing from Commonwealth Bank's Construction financing (Social Loan) program and will have eight commercial / retail tenancies. The project is scheduled for completion in mid-2029 and might be able to assist relocations from the Waterloo South redevelopment, as did City West's Boronia Apartments with its 36 social and 38 affordable homes at 895 Bourke Street Waterloo, again with Council and HAFFF support. HAFFF funding agrees the affordable / social mix. It is delivered in line with state requirements. While City West is a Community Housing Provider (CHP), it manages no Homes NSW social properties. All its housing is affordable housing but at the lowest income tiers, set by the NSW government. It already houses some people who qualify for social housing. City West can access Commonwealth Rental Assistance (CRA) for low-income tenants where Homes NSW cannot. City West says a pensioner on $532.70 still pays $133.17 rent (25%) while the CHP also gets $106.00 CRA. Almost 80% more than Homes NSW gets for the same tenant. The mixed model of surplus land provided at a discount, affordable housing contributions, funding from state or federal governments, the ability to borrow against assets and concessional building finance are all important ingredients to deliver these and future projects. The NSW government needs to follow Council's example in the projects above, by making land available at a discount and finding additional ways to help fund new social and affordable housing on its surplus land. The last link is to a Sydney Morning Herald article behind a paywall that covers the problems facing Homes NSW and Landcom in accessing discounted surplus public land as NSW Treasury requires the part of government selling the land to get best use of that land which leads to the selling party wanting full commercial value on surplus government land. Council Liaison for City Cleansing and Resource Recovery REDWatch has heard of some community concerns about rubbish dumping, especially impacting Council property in proximity to social housing. REDWatch understands a lot of work is happening between Homes NSW and Council on these issues. Lisa Roach has recently commenced in the role of Community Liaison Officer with the City of Sydney's, City Cleansing and Resource Recovery team. Lisa is keen to work with community groups around litter, illegal dumping, street cleansing, waste management, public domain cleanliness, and community education initiatives. She can be contacted by email at communitywasteliaison at cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au Regards, Geoff Geoffrey Turnbull REDWatch Spokesperson Ph Wk: (02) 8004 1490 Mob: 0418 457 392 email: spokesperson at redwatch.org.au web: www.redwatch.org.au FB: www.facebook.com/RedfernEveleighDarlingtonWaterlooWatch/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: