An motion on affordable housing sparked heated debate between two councillors at last Tuesday’s Wyndham council meeting.
A report on using council owned land for affordable housing and a recommendation that it be a guiding principle of any future discussions that Wyndham council has about its landholdings, was presented to council after originally being proposed by councillor Robert Szatkowski in April.
The report by council officers, found that using council owned land for affordable housing could attract state and federal investment, expedite housing developments and that having it as a guiding principle would demonstrate council’s commitment to addressing the problem.
In moving the motion, Cr Szatkowski said the affordable housing report was more than just a normal council document.
“It’s a road-map to an inclusive Wyndham,” he told the chamber.
“Let us continue to work towards the Wyndham where every resident has access to safe affordable and dignified housing,” he added before closing with a minute’s silence for the victims of domestic violence, an issue he said was exacerbated by the shortage of affordable housing and crisis accommodation.
Once the minute’s silence was observed, councillor Josh Gilligan began his argument against by congratulating Cr Stakowski on his ‘theatrical performance.’
Cr Gilligan then proceeded to tear into the motion, arguing that using council land for housing would come at the cost of core council services.
“I will never trade off housing for social infrastructure in the city,” he said.
“We have kids that cannot get into kinders. We have a majority of families not able to get through the doors to get immunization done for certain age groups. We don’t have enough aquatic facilities. We don’t have enough sporting facilities.”
He said Cr Szatkowski’s motion was just a theatrical tug at the heartstrings on an issue beyond council’s remit.
“It is not our job to solve this problem. We don’t tax for it, we don’t regulate it, therefore we should not enter into it.”
In closing the debate, Cr Szatkowski fired back.
“Not having a community centre is not a crisis, not having an aquatic centre is not a crisis. Housing is a crisis.”
The motion was passed with only Cr Gilligan and councillor Mia Shaw voting against.
While Wyndham council were debating affordable housing, residents were moving into a $19 million social housing development funded by the state government in Point Cook.
The 50 social housing homes on Waterhaven Boulevard have been allocated to people on the Victorian Housing Register and are being managed by community housing provider Baptcare.
