The State vs. The Estate: The Battle for Waterloo Wages On

In December 2015, the tenants of the Waterloo public housing estate received a letter from then-NSW Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister for Social Housing Brad Hazzard. “I am excited to write to you”, he says in the opening line, “and let you know that Transport for NSW has announced a new Sydney Metro station at Waterloo”. This, he says, “not only brings fantastic new rapid transport to Waterloo, but means we can re-develop the estate with brand new and more social housing that meets people’s needs”.

Concerned by what Hazzard had said, some tenants started to pack, while others − led by Richard Weeks − started the Waterloo Public Housing Action Group. We spoke with Richard on The Daily about the re-development and how exactly the state government plans to, as the Minister said, meet people’s needs.

For more, head to the following links:

– The Claire Lewis directed documentary on the #WeLiveHere2017 public art project/light installation @ https://iview.abc.net.au/show/there-goes-our-neighbourhood
– Qutaiba Mehmood’s Battle for Waterloo @ www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHz201YOevc
– The Waterloo Public Housing Action Group’s Facebook or Twitter

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