2020 FCC Election: North-West Ward

Homelessness, affordable housing and related issues
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2020 FCC Election: North-West Ward

Postby Noel Tudball » Sun Oct 11, 2020 11:15 am



SHAC's enquiry to 2020 Candidates: (sent 10 October 2020) and other information:
http://www.seafordcc.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=436&p=854#p854

Responses from North West Ward Candidates to SHAC's enquiry have been recorded in order of receipt and will be published at the same time on 14 October 2020



Dear Candidate for the Frankston City Council election.

Seaford Housing Action Coalition (SHAC) is a community group of local residents concerned about homelessness in the Frankston municipal area. For some years we've been saying there's a problem with too many commercial Rooming Houses and they are inadequate for providing crisis accommodation to the homeless. We learned from Council last month there are currently 77 registered Rooming Houses in Frankston and an occupancy allowance of 867 individuals. This puts Frankston near the top in the State for numbers of commercial Rooming Houses.

SHAC calls on all Candidates in the Council election to consider the role Council could play in improving this situation. We seek your opinion on the issues of Affordable Housing and Crisis Accommodation in Frankston.

1.
Your response is requested please, to the attached summary page that SHAC submitted to this year's VIC Govt Inquiry into Homelessness. (https://parliament.vic.gov.au/lsic-lc/inquiry/976). It presents a simple statement of the problem and a few options based on locally identified solutions.

2.
Your indication as to whether you would support a SHAC feasibility study for the development of the vacant VicRoads Overton Road/Skye Road opportunity site. (or part thereof) for crisis housing of independent units on the cabin park or tiny houses model.

We expected the Federal budget on Wednesday would have launched building programs for public and social housing. The absence of such provisions means that it is even more important for Frankston Council to be more emphatic and proactive in doing what it can regarding homelessness. We call on you as a potential member of the new Council, to pursue, as a matter of priority, improved crisis housing and affordable housing options in the City of Frankston.

We look forward to hearing from you in the next few days and will distribute all responses as they are received on the SHAC on-line Forum with links on the SHAC website and Facebook Page.

yours sincerely
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Re: 2020 FCC Election: North-West Ward

Postby Noel Tudball » Wed Oct 14, 2020 11:57 am


Response from Stan Doric: 11 October 2020

Thank-you for your information, as a Candidate for the Frankston City Council election (North-West Ward) this is an important issue if successful in the election this would be an issue that I would want to support to find a best outcome and support the best rapid action needed to deal with the people involved.

Stan Doric JP
AH: (04) 1855 3540
Mob: 0418 553 540
zdrivkoj@bigpond.com


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Re: 2020 FCC Election: North-West Ward

Postby Noel Tudball » Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:19 pm


Response from Jocelyn Torres:: 11 October 2020

Thanks for taking time to share this with me and the other candidates. This is an issue that is very close to my heart. I do a lot of work on the streets of Frankston both with rough sleepers and some of our vulnerable residents so see the impact of unaffordable and unsafe housing first hand.

I like your proactive solutions that could be made possible as a local response and would be supportive of any attempt to provide affordable housing solutions managed by non profit experienced organisations. Furthermore I think that this needs a tighter review and accountability process attached to it and additional supportive groups to support some of these residents.

I am not across all the details of your proposal but I immediately like the proactiveness of a solution and the care that is invested into this.Id be more than happy to work with groups like the Housing Coalition to advocate for change any day.

I hope that my responses share enough of my heart and intentions that I have to improve the health and wellbeing of our city..

Thanks again for reaching out and for the work you do and have done. This is what it takes to make a difference and I appreciate it.

Thanks
Jocelyn

Jocelyn Torres
Mob: 0448 220 041
jocelyn.torres31@gmail.com



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Re: 2020 FCC Election: North-West Ward

Postby Noel Tudball » Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:57 pm


Response from Gabriel Norris: 13 October 2020

Thank-you so much for getting in touch.

I believe you've already heard from my colleague and fellow candidate Claire Harvey.
I would like to echo Claire's comments that although I support the programs listed, I think that homelessness is a complicated problem and needs to be addressed in its entirety. 

I think social and affordable housing are vital as part of the solution and should be partnered with addressing domestic violence, mental health issues, unemployment... and the myriad of factors that contribute.

Thank-you for your work in this area.
If elected to council I would certainly look forward to working with organisations like yours to better support our residents who are experiencing homelessness.

Cheers,
Gabriel Norris
gabriel@reimaginingfrankston.com


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Re: 2020 FCC Election: North-West Ward

Postby Noel Tudball » Fri Oct 16, 2020 4:44 pm


Response from Sue Baker: 16 October 2020

Good morning, David

Thank you for your email and for sharing a range of details about the issue of homelessness in Frankston and the work that SHAC does in relation to it.

I appreciate it is a complex issue. My experience in relation to some of these issues comes from working alongside a number of Housing Associations in the UK. Whilst some specialised in who their target audiences was for accommodation support, most of them worked to both house and make available a range of services. These other services included helping people get back on their feet, job search, tackle mental and physical health issues, manage family needs and support people at different life stages. From what I am learning about the issues here in Frankston it will require a multi-disciplinary approach and a strategic view, not just band aiding individual problems that come up.

The Regional Local Government Homelessness and Social Housing Group Charter which Frankston City Council has signed up to along with 12 Councils, appears to be a constructive initiative to create a unified voice to tackle homelessness across those Council areas. In response to your specific questions, ideas are important, especially as they are based on your organisation’s experience and research of the area. It seems to me that a strategy and plan that can be implemented is what there is energy for and clearly a need for. Homelessness is not going to resolve itself with out some proactive and thoughtful intervention. It’s an historical and current issue too, which requires attention now.

The vacant Vicroads piece of land you mention, is close to where I live and clearly needs to be used productively. It came up in a recent conversation about the repurposing of land for small businesses. I understand it does not have much value as an area for parkland, so I think it would be reasonable to consider it for housing too.

I am mindful there are many nuances and opinions about the topic of homelessness across the City of Frankston and is one new Councillors will need to take some time to really familiarise themselves with in order to make meaningful decisions.

Best wishes to you and the members of your Forum, David.

Sue

Sue Baker
M: 0451 651 065
E: contact@vote1suebaker.info

“Everyone, Everywhere, Everyday"


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Re: 2020 FCC Election: North-West Ward

Postby Noel Tudball » Sat Oct 17, 2020 8:33 am


Response from Jeff Shelley: 16 October 2020

I was delighted to attend the recent SHAC committee meeting, having read the SHAC proposals and position papers.

I thank the members present and enjoyed the discussion about my years in Seaford, my connections with many local families, my awareness of the many difficulties that can arise and the critical importance of stable and affordable housing.

I agree with the issues identified in SHAC's position paper;
  • lack of crisis housing apart from commercial rooming houses and
  • the widespread lack of affordable housing for low-income families.
I agree strongly on the worthiness of SHAC's proposal for the Skye/Overton Rd site and outlined two strategies for consideration;
  • a financing strategy based on leveraging development activity in Frankston, and
  • architectural strategy similar to the Launch Housing model with their relocatable tiny homes on vacant land along Footscray Road.
I am committed, if successful in the election, to make this one of my four priority issues for my first term in Council.

Jeff Shelley
Candidate for North West Ward
Frankston 2020
Mob: 0402 183 122
jeffshelley@optusnet.com.au


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Re: 2020 FCC Election: North-West Ward

Postby Noel Tudball » Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:02 pm


Response from Alan Middleton: 17 October 2020


Is passionately interested in affordable and crisis housing and has extensive practical experience in helping achieve this with Aboriginal communities across Australia and especially in Arnhem Land, the Kimberley, Katharine NT and Kununurra WA.

He supports the SHAC ‘cabin park’ model, and the idea of identifying suitable vacant sites for this. It has similarities to the (mining) ‘Workers Villages’ in the top end, providing housing that is secure, of good quality, and affordable. This has been adopted and embraced by aboriginal communities, and can turn out to be accommodation for the longer-term if the occupant desires.

The SHAC statement correctly identifies the problems. Solutions are much more complex, but essentially require broad political, government (three levels) and community ‘conversations’.

In Frankston the problem it is not a shortage of money, but a shortage of will, and method.

Honest ‘conversations’, and ‘will’ are required, not just general agreement and vague good-will by politicians, bureaucrats, and the community.

The conversation must include economic policy (eg cost-benefit analysis, the potentially better economic ‘multipliers’ of social investment). It needs to be informed by Treasuries, and by economic analysis.

He seeks honest ‘conversations’, and transparency by both councillors, and local government bureaucrats. His experience in the low-income housing field makes him wary of motherhood statements and expressions of good-will, and if elected he would seek ‘weekly’ updates from senior Council staff regarding their work in housing.

He agrees with SHAC that the problem is structural, notably the lack of commitment to public (affordable) housing for families which occurred over the last 30-50 years.

Alan Middleton(B.Com, LLM, FCPA)
Ph: 0407356948
alan@alanmiddleton.com
https://www.facebook.com/AlanMidd

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