‘Treating us like chess pieces’: Big Housing Build turns into big wait for Leawarra residents

Marlene Clarke's garden is an oasis that weaves its way to the plant-laden pergola which she built with her own hands.

The 74-year-old has been clearing out the back garden of her home of 44 years, which is part of a social housing estate. But she has let the garden go recently, assuming she would have been required to vacate by now.

In 2021, Clarke was notified she would be one of the residents in Leawarra, Delacombe, in south-west Ballarat, who would be relocated as part of the state government's $5.3bn Big Housing Build project - designed to address Victoria's critical social housing shortage.

The project is said to deliver more than 12,000 new homes over four years, with construction commencing last year. As part of the Leawarra development, 60 of the neighbourhood's 147 social housing dwellings are being replaced with either one, two or three-bedroom units.

More than 150 new homes are expected with new roads and trails, an expansive common garden space, and better-integrated community services.

But Clarke is still waiting on when she'll be relocated to her temporary residence while construction takes place, after which time she will have the choice to return.

"Nothing's happened and now I'm in a real mess," she says.

According to the Leawarra Neighbourhood Draft Masterplan document, community feedback for the development was sought in late 2019 and early 2020 - with residents sharing their feedback in order to inform the plan.

"We didn't know about (the project) to start with. Roughly when Covid started, they told us we had to move out," she says, showing the letter from June 2021 stating that "your home has been identified for redevelopment".

Since then, pensioners and families in the neighbourhood have vacated, with many properties along Leawarra Crescent sitting idle and unmaintained.

"They're kicking people out, moving people out, and that's what's been left - it's a disgrace. They're getting overgrown and just sitting there empty for close to two years. I don't understand. They could have still been housing people."

The Delacombe resident Amanda Rogers says she and her family of five received one phone call and a visit from Homes Victoria asking them to vacate.

"I had heard whispers, but around here you don't take that stuff to heart," she says. "It was never clear. If they had come to us and did doorknocks and actually spoke to us, like human beings, then we could've had a say in what was happening."

While Rogers says her family is content with their new home, she says they have been kept in the dark throughout the entire process. She has decided to stay in the temporary residence because the family are happy there.

"They're treating us like chess pieces they can pick up, toss out and forget about."

Alan Lench, 65, says he was given three months to vacate his property of seven years.

While he was offered a temporary place, he couldn't take it because it had steps. Once he entered the private market at higher rent and signed a two-year lease, the department told him he would get taken off the waiting list.

"There was no consultation at all. They're putting these new townhouses out which aren't practical. You can't swing a cat in them. I'm just disgusted by the way they handled it."

The process of displacement is commonplace when it comes to social housing developments across the state.

If properties do not meet modern standards, tenants are often asked to relocate in order for dwellings to be rebuilt rather than refurbished. In the case of the Big Housing Build, residents have been entitled to "first right of return" in new homes that are "energy efficient and environmentally sustainable".

According to a Victorian government spokesperson, Homes Victoria is working closely with the Delacombe community through a staged master-planning process to address the demand for housing in regional Victoria.

"Community consultation is a crucial part of the master-planning process," the spokesperson says.

"This has included letterbox drops, on-site meetings with residents and the wider community, a series of face-to-face information sessions with residents and businesses, as well as regular community online engagement sessions.

"There will be further opportunities for community consultation later this year."

The Delacombe Salvation Army Corps officer Major Craig Farrell says while the intentions of the development are good, and the need to increase housing stock obvious, it is necessary to take a more considered approach so residents can fully understand the reality of the project.

He says there was adequate consultation "on the face of things" but many residents were unaware of the development and what was being proposed - particularly around timelines and which homes were being affected.

"There is also a stigma or narrative that government departments cannot be trusted, and this is valid for many residents of this neighbourhood," Farrell says.

"In this case it was the 'unknown' that worried residents and there is still some uncertainty about where the project is at.

"Taking the time to hear people's stories of past relocations is important as many have experienced transient lifestyles for many different reasons. Building rapport with those concerned with the planning and implementation of the project is crucial. Nothing should be rushed."

In 2020-21, a total of 60,065 individuals were on the Victorian Housing Register public housing waiting list, with 19,199 of those in Victoria's west division which includes Ballarat - the highest figure of the four divisions. This figure increased to 64,168 across Victoria by June 2022.

Clarke says she has come to accept she will need to leave her home. But she is currently caring for her two youngest grandchildren most days of the week, and says there are more logical ways of increasing housing availability that don't involve uprooting households.

"It's a safe neighbourhood. It's a good place to live. They're moving me to somewhere I don't know and where I won't know the people. I've been here all my life. I've made it home."