No it’s not. Unless you’re a public housing estate sitting on expensive land in Sydney’s inner city it seems.
The NSW Government is currently proposing to redevelop the public housing estate at 82 Wentworth Park Road, Glebe, in Sydney’s inner city. Currently the estate consists of 17 dwellings and is home to people who, in some cases, have lived there for decades.

Beyond our concern for the tenants, we at Shelter NSW question the need and justification for this type of redevelopment. This site was originally made available to the then Department of Housing after an expressway proposal was abandoned as part of the Lyndhurst precinct. Iconic Housing NSW Architect, John Gregory, who designed the infill housing told Shelter he would be especially saddened should it be demolished as it was one of his “personal favourites”. 

As CEO John Engeler noted in this CityHub article, the requirement of the Land and Housing Corporation to be self-funding, sees otherwise good relatively newer sites like 82 Wentworth Park Road… being considered for redevelopment. According to The Glebe Society, 82 Wentworth Park Rd, like the recently demolished public housing at 17-31 Cowper Street Glebe, was designed in the late 1980s by the NSW Housing Commission. These dwellings were and remain an important part of the cultural, physical and community history of Glebe.

You can hear more from John on this and related topics in his August 20 interview with Fbi Radio host, Eamonn Snow. Here’s a link to the segment (John comes in from 23 minutes for about 7 minutes in total).  

If you believe that the tenants of 82 Wentworth Park Rd deserve a safe and secure home and, like us, want to see more public housing developed on new sites rather than over existing units, join us this Saturday (September 17th)!
We’ll be with Hands Off Glebe and other community groups at their free BBQ and rally opposite 82 Wentworth Park Rd from 12pm. Come and show your support, chat about getting involved in the campaign, and enjoy the afternoon outside these historic and well-loved units. The FB event can be found here.