By Christine de Kock
AFFORDABLEhousing in the inner West is being pushed as an inclusion to the agenda when representatives from the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) meet the State Government next month.
City of Maribyrnong councillor Joseph Cutri is also the Metropolitan West Region’s representative on the association.
He brought an urgent application to last Tuesday’s council meeting. It included four motions and councillors voted that the motions should be brought before the association and considered as issues to be debated at its annual meeting with the State Government on 10 May.
The four motions concern funding for street lighting, library funding, citizenship issues and affordable housing.
Cr Cutri said if the association supported the four motions it would lobby the Government to support them.
“It is incredible that no one is doing anything about affordable housing,” he said.
Cr Cutri’s approach to solving the issue of low-income earners not being able to afford housing in the inner West, is for the Government to give land that is owned by the State and by the Federal Government, in the instance of Defence Force land in Maribyrnong, to low-income earners at a cheaper rate.
“If there is government land somewhere, that land should be then given to people of low income, so that they can build their own house on that,” he said.
“The way I see it, affordable housing is about getting land, for not much, and people building their dream home on that.”
He said an income test would be necessary and there would need to be a balance in regards to new developments on government land, where low-income owners could afford to buy as well as people in higher income brackets.
He said gentrification and the shift of low-income owners out of the City of Maribyrnong will result in “one of the biggest problems we will face in the next five years”.
“Rentals are going through the roof and are becoming a bit of a problem even in Footscray,” Cr Cutri said.
“If low-income workers move out of the area and move further West services will eventually follow them.
“Why is that a problem? You still have people who are asset rich, cash poor in the municipality,” he said.
“For instance, you buy a house in Yarraville in 1970, you might still be in that house, you might be asset rich – your house worth $550,000 but yet you are a working-class person.
“You will still require services within our municipality – with a lack of public transport out in Werribee and places like that, our residents will find it difficult to get out there.”
Cr Cutri said there wasn’t an easy solution to the problem but the issue needed to be addressed.
