BY LUCAS BAIRD
The Millers Point community will not get any return on the millions of dollars it has sunk into maintaining heritage properties in the area.
The community has criticised the government for its plans to auction off Darling House in the suburb. The Millers Point community believes that they own around a 20 per cent equity in the property, which would equal $1.2 million if the property sells for the estimated price.
The auction of the former aged care facility is scheduled to take place on the 25th of February and is predicted to bring in around $6 million for the government.
Millers Point, Dawes Point, The Rocks and Walsh Bay Resident Action Group chair, John McInerney, told City Hub that the community will not see any of the funds from the sale.
“We have no commitment from the owners of the building, which is property NSW,” Mr McInerney told City Hub.
He said that Property NSW had indicated to the resident action group that the community in fact had contributed “significantly” to the building in its current form.
“We have no indication in a formal sense that the state government is going to recognise that contribution,” he said.
“The Millers Point community was expecting some recognition in a monetary or resource sense of the community’s contribution to the value of that building.”
The Department of Family and Community Services, who is handling the auction, indicated that Mr McInerney’s assertions are true.
“All proceeds from the sale of Millers Point properties – including Darling House – will be reinvested into building an estimated 1,500 additional homes in NSW, helping reduce waiting times for people on the social housing waiting list,” a spokesperson told City Hub.
Local member for the Legislative Assembly, Independent Alex Greenwich, agreed with Mr McInerney.
Mr Greenwich said that the government had forced the elderly care home out, by making rents too expensive and their business “untenable”.
“When concerns about the future of Darling House were raised, I advocated for the Government to renew the lease and peppercorn rent to ensure Darling House could continue to provide aged care,” Mr Greenwich said.
“However the government’s decision to charge commercial market rent for the property made it unviable for the small non-profit to continue and the Board of Darling House closed the facility.”
Mr Greenwich made clear that he will continue to oppose the sale of social housing in Millers Point, due to the needs and concerns of the vulnerable in the area.
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