Holder residents furious at a planned public housing development on their community green space have formed an action group opposing the move.
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The ACT government will submit a development application for 30 two-bedroom apartments and townhouses, up to two storeys, in Stapylton Street.
Holder Community Action Group was formed by about 20 residents concerned that the community's only open space and park will be snatched up for the residential development, and that they had received little consultation about the proposal.
A brochure received in the mail on March 16 was the first residents heard of the development application the government will lodge on in April, group spokeswoman Jodie Beitzel said.
Ms Beitzal lives on Williamson Street, down the road from the development space.
"There has been no consultation, just the brochure, which many of the residents near the development didn't even receive," Ms Beitzel said.
"We only bought our place a year ago and we bought it because of access to the green space as we have two young children."
Bill Salter had lived near the space for more than 30 years and said the quiet area did not have the appropriate services, public transport or infrastructure that would benefit vulnerable public housing tenants.
"There are also a whole lot of safety issues," he said.
"It's a very large development, especially compared to the other public housing proposals. There will be a whole lot more traffic and as there are a lot of children around here we just wonder if the government has taken these things into consideration."
"The community will not accept the destruction of the heart of our community."
The site will be sub-divided, with part of it used for the development. it will back onto about 10 homes on Stapylton Street and Frankland Street. It is part of the 141 new public housing townhouses and apartments in five suburbs in Canberra's south the ACT government unveiled last week.
A building on the site is used by the Post and Ante Natal Depression Support and Information group, which will move in April to Weston, with the Stapylton Street building to be demolished.
The Honder plan is the only one that includes two-story apartments, as most of the developments are groups of single-storey, two-bedroom townhouses.
The new homes will be used to house tenants moved from the public housing flats on Northbourne Avenue, which are being demolished to make way for tram-related redevelopment, and the inner south, where the troubled Red Hill flats are about to be demolished.
Ms Beitzal and Mr Salter said they were not opposed to public housing in the area, but wanted the opportunity to discuss alternatives to the current plan.
Shadow housing minister Mark Parton said he was concerned public housing residents from Northbourne were being shunted far away from "the grand vision of light rail".
"This doesn't sound like a genuine 'salt and pepper' approach to public housing to me," Mr Parton said.
Last week Housing Minister Ms Berry said there were no current plans to build more public housing on Northbourne Avenue.
* The housing taskforce will hold a drop-in session at the Tuggeranong Community Centre, 245 Cowlishaw Street, on Friday, April 7 from 6-8pm, and another at the Weston Creek Community Centre, adjacent to the Cooleman Court Shopping Centre, on Saturday, April 8 from 11am-1pm. The taskforce will also speak at a public meeting of the Woden Valley Community Council at the Southern Cross Club on April 5 from 7.30pm.
- with Kirsten Lawson
