TWiSK attended a rally last week at the Inkerman Street public housing towers and saw a vibrant, community-minded crowd determined to stay.
‘We love living at 150 Inkerman Street,’ say more than 60 of the building’s residents. ‘We want to stay.’
150 Inkerman Street has been listed in the Victorian Government’s latest wave of proposed public housing demolitions. Along with residents of six other over-55 older persons flats, the government is trying to force everyone living at 150 Inkerman Street out of their homes, starting this year.
‘When we moved here, we were told it would be our forever home,’ residents say in their petition. ‘Some of us elderly people have lived here for over three decades. Now you are trying to uproot all our lives.’
The government announced its plans for the building in January. 150 Inkerman Street is included in a new ‘tranche’ of the state’s plan to demolish all 44 of Naarm/Melbourne’s inner-city high-rise flats.
Residents came together to celebrate the petition last Sunday at a community BBQ with live music; several performers live in the building. Dozens of people attended in support, including residents from 11 other public housing estates.
‘Preserve this wonderful public housing and our community,’ say the Inkerman Street residents. ‘We want to live here forever.’
Their petition says
‘To Nick Staikos, Minister for Housing and Building:
We love living at 150 Inkerman Street, St Kilda, and we want to stay.
When we moved here, we were told it would be our forever home. Some of us elderly people have lived here for over three decades. Now you are trying to uproot all our lives.
We want security and proper maintenance of the building. Why pull down something that works without consulting us, and without offering us any evidence?
Preserve this wonderful public housing and our community. We want to live here forever.”
Thanks to FU44 for the story and images
