Homes Victoria Starts Relocating Residents From Seven Melbourne Towers While High Court Appeal Continues

Homes Victoria began meeting with residents last week at seven public housing towers earmarked for demolition, including 150 Victoria Avenue in Albert Park. Abc reported that the towers, built under the Older Persons High Rise Program for Victorians aged over 55, are located in Flemington, Kensington, North Melbourne, Prahran, St Kilda and Albert Park.

The seven towers form the third tranche of a state program to demolish and rebuild all 44 of Melbourne's public housing towers by 2051.

Of the 600 residents across these sites, 4 per cent have already moved out. Several apartments at 150 Victoria Avenue now display signs created by the grassroots collective 44 Flats United refusing relocation or contact with Homes Victoria representatives.

Sixty per cent of residents in the St Kilda and Flemington towers have signed a petition opposing the demolition and relocation, according to 44 Flats United founder R-Coo Tran.

Several Albert Park residents have been told they will move to the Barak Beacon estate in Port Melbourne, though the government has not specified locations for the rest. In June the Victorian government rejected a parliamentary inquiry recommendation to halt redevelopment until cost-benefit analyses were completed for each site.

The same month the Victorian Ombudsman announced an investigation into residents' experiences, covering the shift to community housing, mental social and physical wellbeing, and human rights compatibility.

Housing Minister Nick Staikos stated the towers were built in the 1960s and 1970s and were not intended to last forever. He described the ombudsman referral as politics and dismissed concerns as scaremongering. The government has committed that redeveloped sites will contain 10 per cent more social housing.