Issue remains as housing project succeeds, says Tesch

A Woy Woy project provides 30 of only 47 units of social housing provided on the Central Coast under the NSW Government's new funding model for social and affordable housing, according to the Member for Gosford, Ms Liesl Tesch.

"Social and affordable housing funding by this government promised thousands of homes in NSW, and yet we have seen the numbers of homelessness on the Central Coast increase," Ms Tesch told the NSW Parliament recently.

"In my electorate we have seen public housing homes sold to local developers for undisclosed prices," she said.

"It has been by the sheer determination of Pacific Link, our local community housing provider, who identified the need for affordable and social housing and works very hard to ensure they receive funding to bring developments to fruition.

"Pacific Link have successfully built 30 new social and affordable units in a facility in Woy Woy."

"A meeting with NCOSS last week revealed that the 30 units in Woy Woy are 30 in a total of only 47 new social and affordable housing properties developed across the Coast by this government under the new Social and Affordable Housing Funding."

Ms Tesch said billions of dollars were being spent on stadiums, while millions of dollars of public housing assets were being sold.

"And what are the disadvantaged people of NSW receiving?

"This government justifies spending billions on stadiums, and yet cannot increase the pot of funding to support early intervention reform for all the groups in our community that require this support," Ms Tesch said.

Ms Tesch also spoke about Central Coast Council's forum for the development of the Central Coast Affordable and Alternative Housing Strategy.

"The strategy aims to provide a coordinated and systematic approach which will inform the delivery of services, create opportunities for innovation and create partnerships to address the issue," she said.

Ms Tesch mentioned the free Bring Your Bills Day at the Peninsula Community Centre on May 3.

She said the Peninsula was a "fabulous place to visit, yet it saddens me greatly that so many people will be lining up for help with their bills ... especially their electricity bill.

"St Vincent de Paul tell me that they exhausted their rebates, that are usually meant to last a year, in just one of these quarterly sessions last year.

"Families in my electorate are telling me they have to choose between food and electricity, and this is before the costs of winter heating are added to electricity bills.

"They are resorting to having a good cooked meal at Mary Macs ... to get them through the week," she said.

SOURCE:

Hansard, 2 May 2018

Liesl Tesch, Member for Gosford