Those Canberrans who recall just how disreputable was the Burnie Court public housing precinct will cheer the completion this week of the site's transformation to one boasting a retirement village and a mix of modern apartments living. By the time of its demolition about 15 years ago, Burnie Court had become more or less a permanent ghetto of the disadvantaged, where petty crime, drug dealing and violence were distressingly frequent occurrences. Burnie Court was not unique: many of its multi-unit public housing counterparts elsewhere in Canberra, including the still extant Stuart flats and the ABC complex in Reid, were similarly affected.
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The decline of what was once decent and affordable public housing to run-down dens of squalor, if not iniquity, is one the more distressing failures of welfare policy in the territory – accentuated by the fact that it all unravelled so quickly. It was only in the 1960s and '70s that the National Capital Development Commission began building multi-unit public housing complexes as a response to the housing shortage of the time, which had manifested itself in high rentals and unaffordable (for many) house prices.
A reasonable template for medium-density public housing already existed in Canberra (the housing precinct on Northbourne Avenue). Concerned perhaps with getting the biggest bang for its buck, the NCDC eschewed anything demonstrating thoughtful design and effective use of the built environment – instead opting for the cookie-cutter approach of the spec builder. This was regrettable strategy, since good building design does not necessarily translate to expensive construction. While the design and construction of estates like Burnie Court was not ideal, there was nothing intrinsically lacking in it either. But the concentration of low-income and disadvantaged tenants in undesirably large numbers overwhelmed what good features there were and exposed the more retrograde features.
Aware now of the potential for unemployed or disadvantaged tenants (particularly those who lack strong social connections or networks) to contribute to an anti-social environment in multi-unit properties, policy planners now try to ensure a greater mix of people – the so-called "salt and pepper" approach. Indeed, the ACT government's preferred approach is not to cluster public housing tenants at all but to sprinkle them among private apartment dwellings. Which is why it intends that the ABC flats, Gowrie Court, and the Stuart Flats, among others, should eventually go the way of Burnie Court.
Arguments have been mounted for these properties to be refurbished and renovated, not just because of sizeable public investment they represent (or, because, in the case of the Northbourne flats, they have heritage significance) but because they are close to public amenities.
While it claims to recognise the implications of moving public housing tenants out of inner city suburbs and into areas where health and other services may not be so easily accessible, the government maintains, however, that selling large precincts like Burnie Court offers the most cost-effective way to renew and enlarge public housing stocks. That logic is hard to fault given the significant size of the ACT's stock, the number of people on waiting lists, and the fact that houses and units require constant maintenance and upkeep.
Committed though it may be to ensuring adequate supplies of low-cost and affordable housing, the government is now moving to sell off run-down but still adequate public housing complexes with what seems like indecent haste. The sale and redevelopment of public housing sites along Northbourne Avenue is imminent and that of the Stuart Flats and others not be far behind. The government has made no secret of the fact that it wants the Northbourne flats gone (irrespective of heritage values) and the land sold and redeveloped to help offset the costs of building the Civic-Gungahlin light rail line. It can be no coincidence that the redevelopment of the Stuart Flats is being brought forward, or that there is renewed speculation about Strathgordon Court, just down the road from the old Burnie Court, being redeveloped.
Doubtless nearby residents will be popping champagne corks when these complexes are demolished to make way for new apartments, just as Lyons residents are this week celebrating Burnie Court's final extinction. But it remains to see if this new chapter in Canberra's public housing story is as eagerly celebrated by tenants.
