Housing Minister Rose Jackson announced that 12-factory built homes would be delivered to Ashmont by June. She is pictured here with Wagga MP Dr Joe McGirr and Mayor Dallas Tout. Photo: Dr Joe McGirr/Facebook.
The NSW Government says “wet weather” has delayed the delivery of 12 factory-built social homes promised for Ashmont by the end of June, as Wagga’s homelessness crisis reaches a tipping point.
An estimated 250 people are homeless across the city, with the issue thrust into the spotlight earlier this year following the death of a baby in a tent.
The delay comes as Wagga City Council moves people sleeping rough out of prominent central locations. In recent days, the council has issued move-on notices to dozens of people camping at Wilks Park and along the Murrumbidgee River, and bulldozed a campsite near Wagga Beach.
The council has not explained what laws the homeless people were allegedly breaking or why the camps were removed. It says the action was initiated by Homes NSW, but the State Government department has denied directing the council to move people on.
Homes NSW says it has established a working group to support those being relocated and help find them temporary accommodation and longer-term housing.
Housing Minister Rose Jackson visited Wagga in May to announce the 12 factory-built social homes, saying they would be delivered by the end of June to help ease the city’s housing shortage.
The dwellings have yet to be handed over.
Homes NSW said wet weather had delayed landscaping and the final handover of the sites, with the homes now expected to be delivered across July and August.
“There is no one-size-fits-all solution to homelessness, and our focus is on connecting people with the most appropriate available options, including temporary accommodation and longer-term housing pathways,” a Homes NSW spokesman said.
“At the same time, Homes NSW is progressing the delivery of 12 new factory-built social homes in Ashmont, adding more vital housing for people in need.”
A skip bin full of items cleared from the Wagga Beach campsite. Photos: Marguerite McKinnon.
With social housing in short supply and affordable rentals scarce, Homes NSW sometimes pays for people experiencing homelessness to stay in hotels and motels on an emergency basis.
However, a homeless person placed at the Wagga Gardens Motel was reportedly turned away last week because they had too many bags.
Homes NSW did not answer questions about whether it had ended its arrangement with the motel, but said it was reinforcing expectations around appropriate client service standards with emergency accommodation providers.
Housing advocates say authorities appear to be putting more effort into dismantling homeless camps than delivering more housing.
“Imagine if council and government put the same sort of effort into housing people as they do into enforcement to get them to leave,” former ABC journalist and housing advocate Moyra Shields said.
There has been some progress on increasing housing supply.
Wagga MP Joe McGirr recently announced the NSW Government would fast-track the redevelopment of Tolland Estate, with 24 new homes now expected to be completed before the end of the year. Previously, the first replacement homes were not expected until 2029.
However, Wagga Ratepayers Association president Chris Roche said it was “ridiculous” that Homes NSW demolished houses at Tolland before replacement homes were ready.
He argued the decision had reduced the number of available public housing properties in the short term by forcing existing tenants into other public housing homes that could otherwise have been allocated to people on waiting lists or in crisis accommodation.
Homes NSW says it has a plan to relocate people sleeping rough, but it has not made the plan public.
Councillor Richard Foley has called for greater transparency.
“Minister Jackson says everyone will have somewhere to go. Really? Where?” he said.
“If the answer is hotel rooms and short-term stopgaps, that is not good enough.
“So show us the list, Minister. You and every bureaucrat underneath you. How many properties are there? How many are available right now? When are the rest becoming available?
“The people of Wagga Wagga deserve the list, not the spin. Put it on the table.”
