Kim Macdonald: WA’s biggest social and affordable housing complex in Subiaco will only encourage diversity

Plans for Perth’s biggest social and affordable housing development, which were this week supported by Subiaco Council, reminds me of growing up in the area. Back in the 1980s, when I was a student at Subiaco Primary School, my middle-income parents signed a petition to bring Homeswest to a vacant block of units on our street. For those not old enough to remember, Homeswest was the former public housing authority. My parents rationale was that Subiaco was traditionally a working class suburb, and if there were more people in the area, it would help sales at the local deli. Again, for those who not old enough to remember, delis were small shops which opened long hours and sold everything from one cent lollies to bread, milk and hot pies. In other words, everything needed for the standard ‘80s diet. My father also grew up in Subiaco, one of six children, with a widowed mother and house that had tin in place of glass in the window panes. In both those periods, Subiaco was a place for everyone – rich and poor. In my class at the local primary school, our parents’ occupations ranged from doctors to truck drivers. About 20 years later, I temporarily moved back in with my parents in Subiaco and by this time, local occupations again ranged from doctors to truck drivers. But back then, in the heady days of the mining boom, truckies were a very different breed. When not chugging $18 pints of Asahi at The Leedy Hotel, they were out on jet skis and weekending in Bali. Subi had gone decidedly upmarket, and diversity was increasingly weakened amid the influx of new luxury abodes. But new plans for Court Place would take Subiaco back a little closer to its roots, with an application to build a 447-unit development of social and affordable housing units across four towers. The Subi East plan involves high rise of eight to 18 floors. It is slated to include a massive 89 per cent more social and affordable housing apartments than is contained in the controversial 19-storey tower at Fraser Suites in the city. There are already complaints that Court Place will become the new Brownlie Towers. For those who don’t remember, Brownlie was a social housing development built in Bentley in the 1970s, with 450-odd social housing flats across two towers. It was renowned as a hot-bed of crime and anti-social behaviour. The first point that needs to be made here is that it is fair to say that putting several hundred welfare recipients in one place can be highly problematic, as was proven by Brownlie Towers. An overwhelming amount of poverty, trauma, anger and drug and alcohol problems - proportionally high among welfare recipients - can destroy a community. But the Subiaco plan is not Brownlie Towers. Court Place strikes the right balance, with 147 social housing units for welfare-recipients, and 300 affordable housing units rented to the working poor through Community Housing Limited. Affordable housing is rented below market rates to low paid workers like some nurses, security staff, shop keepers, cleaners and baristas. It will likely include people who service the area. In my view, diversity is good for a community. It means those doing it tough have neighbours who can role model an alternative or an aspirational way, should it be lacking in their own home. Children from social housing apartments can share in the same schools, parks and amenities as their wealthier classmates. It also means richer neighbours do not end up living in an elitist bubble between Rokeby Rd and St George’s Terrace, with their broader exposure hopefully informing a greater depth of knowledge and compassion for a vast range of socio-economic communities. There is nothing like watching someone count out coins at the supermarket check-out to truly understand the economic reality facing many people today. In my experience, the number one cause of social division is ignorance. Those who do not know or understand people who are vastly different to them, are at a greater risk of fearing or disregarding them. But there is nothing to fear. I can guarantee from personal experience that living in Subiaco among social housing occupants will not harm your social or professional goals in life. They are just trying to live their best life too.