CR JENNIFER ANDERSON

Local Government can and must play a role in housing.

Housing is a basic need and housing should be available to everyone.

Most Councils, including the Macedon Ranges, are not registered housing providers, but can assist in finding locations where diverse housing options can be located.

They can also advocate to the State Government to include the provision of such housing as a mandatory inclusion as part of new developments before they can be approved.

Inclusivity

As a champion of health and wellbeing, I believe housing built for those with diverse needs should be:

• built sustainably to high standards including key energy ratings.
• located with access to public transport, footpaths and cycleways, close to town centres and integrated with all housing types.

Housing Diversity Pledge

I responded to the Housing Diversity Pledge as it explains clearly what it was asking a candidate to sign up to and I believe in transparency.

The Coalition for Housing Diversity defined housing diversity as follows:

“For the purposes of this pledge, diverse housing options include: public housing, community housing, disability housing, key/essential worker housing, co-housing, retirement housing, crisis accommodation, women’s shelters, supported and disability living, and other non-market housing options. “

Affordable housing

Truly affordable housing is defined by the planning scheme as:

“housing, including social housing, that is appropriate for the needs of very low, low and moderate income households.”

When developers and their supporters talk about “affordable housing” they are not using this definition but an arbitrary figure, whereby the housing they plan to provide should perhaps be seen as “less expensive” than the average rather than truly “affordable”.

Good town planning and supporting organisations to work with developers and housing providers to create diverse and affordable housing as part of all new developments is an important role of local council in building an inclusive resilient community that feels healthy and connected.