HAMILTON South's Fowler Street has long been synonymous with public housing and its associated problems in this state. The laundry list of problems in the area are detailed in today's paper, and they make for sobering reading about a place designed to deliver a safety net to those who cannot find accommodation elsewhere.
It is heartening, then, that state authorities have begun investigations into how the estate can be redeveloped and whether it is feasible. Such studies are obviously the starting point for any future action, but it is understandable that residents believe the wait has already stretched too long.
"This is generational. It's got to be redeveloped. Hamilton South is high-density, and it's everyone together," resident Jan Chamberlain has said.
"Places like Hamilton South cannot be just put in the too hard basket.
"This is generational. It's got to be redeveloped. Hamilton South is high-density, and it's everyone together."
In January the Public Service Association warned that any intentions to improve public housing in NSW would be pointless without major reform for "a system that's in terminal decline, thanks to a decade of ruthless privatisation". It reported 12 per cent of the state's land and building assets have been handed to the private sector.
With interest rates, rents and property prices all headed north or stabilising beyond the realms of affordability for many, the need for housing support is more pronounced than ever. Social housing offers a roof, but more than that it should offer the safety and security that such things offer. According to resident accounts and records of the numerous brutal crimes recorded at Hamilton South over many years, that may be beyond the scope of the present arrangement there without significant intervention.
None of this justifies stigma against those who live in social housing. There are many people trying to get by who are caught up in the systemic problems that wrack communities like this whether directly or through exposure to the pervasive violence and drug use those who live there have reported.
With major reforms planned for Sydney social housing, Ms Chamberlain is correct to implore the government to remember the regions in its reforms. Many of those who rely upon social housing have been forgotten by enough systems for one lifetime. It's time to give Hamilton South a fresh start.
