Inner-south residents say they have been blindsided by a Housing ACT development application to demolish vacant public housing and build new units.
The $16.23 million proposal would include 30 territory government-owned homes in Yarralumla, built for low-income earners.
Block 3 Section 59 in the suburb was first acquired by the ACT government in 1956, but it has sat vacant since 2021.
President of the Yarralumla Residents Association, Peter Pharaoh, said the group had tried to engage with Housing ACT about the block since the last residents were notified to vacate the ten existing homes in 2020.
He said the residents were then notified of a development application, which became public in mid-September, about two weeks before it closes for public comment on September 30.
"I have worked for the Chinese government and the Chinese government ... is more open than the ACT government [about development]," he said.
It is not common practice in the ACT for formal feedback to be sought prior to the lodgement of a development application.
Housing ACT's application is on public notification and available for comment for the usual period of time in the territory.
There has been a decrease of 1000 public housing dwellings between 2011 and 2024.
About 12 per cent of all housing stock in Canberra was public in the late 1980s. That number now sits at just over five per cent.
The residents group - of which 300 Yarralumlites are members - was concerned about green space, parking and overshadowing from new buildings.
Mr Pharaoh was quick to defend any allegations of nimbyism, saying he - and the organisation he heads up - are "pro development".
"We are not against development," he said.
"We are not against appropriate public housing."
In fact, he is known to sign emails off with the term "yimby": Yarralumla is my backyard.
However he said the increase in density on the southern side of the boundary was poorly planned and would create extra traffic, but less green space.
The development application includes three buildings and 30 homes, up from one building and 10 homes in the existing, untenanted unit block.
Mr Pharaoh said the potential loss of 11 significant trees on the site was also worrying.
"This development is going to end up like a heat sink. It is going to be overcrowded, with too few amenities," he said.
"The nearby residents are going to lose any green space in that area."
The association was "concerned" about having "houses six metres from their boundary" on Solander Place.
Caroline Fitzwarryne has been a Yarralumla resident for 45 years. She had a 15-year hiatus from the residents association but has recently re-joined because she said the group was pushing forward in championing "adequate" housing.
"I've always been a supporter of public housing," she said.
"It is good to have people from different [demographics] living together - it is very good for social cohesion."
Ms Fitzwarryne was critical of the government leaving the site vacant since 2020, saying a quality social housing precinct was being "wasted".
An ACT government spokesperson said information about the development application, and the development application process, could be found online.
