Affordable housing back in the spotlight

BY JESSICA ROUSE

NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley announced over the weekend a future Labor government would mandate 25% of properties built on government-owned land be set aside for affordable housing, and it's a plan being welcomed by the St Vincent De Paul Society.

The society says the Hunter was well represented in a petition calling for more privately owned land to be made available for affordable housing. They had been calling for 15% of private development land be earmarked for affordable housing, which had the support of around 16,000 people.

"We actually promoted that we would like a commitment from state government for 15 per cent of housing developments to include affordable housing and for the opposition to announce that they are pursuing that promotion with 25 per cent, that's an excellent result," said Denise Lucus, the Society's Executive Officer for Maitland Newcastle.

Everyday in Newcastle the St Vincent De Paul Society helps thousands of people through a range of societal challenges including housing, support for people living with a mental illness, budget counselling and youth programs, migrant and refugee assistance and Denise Lucus says they frequently come across families on the "verge of losing rental properties because they just can't keep up with an unexpected bill arriving so we are often dealing with people on the verge of losing their tenancy".

However, on the flip side, Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald is pouring cold water on Labor's policy commitment.

He says in April the government offered land and $3 million towards affordable housing units on the former heavy rail corridor in Newcastle, yet council is refusing to rezone the land.

"And immediately we had a council playing politics with it, we had the local Labor member Tim Crakanthorp come out and rubbish the idea so look you know my issue is who is actually in charge of housing politics? Is it Luke Foley or is it the people on the ground such as Tim Crakanthorp and the council? So there seems to be no hope of that policy being delivered," said Scot MacDonald.

Scot MacDonald added what Labor say they do, and what they actually do are two completely different things.

As with all things, the St Vincent De Paul Society say it is encouraging the Opposition has come up with the 25%, but "of course we need to wait now and see what NSW government will announce in the budget".

Help out your fellow man in the Vinnies Winter Appeal

BY LAUREN KEMP and JESSICA ROUSE

The St Vincent De Paul Society urging the Hunter community to help out their fellow man with donations for their Winter Appeal to help residents struggling with the cost of living in the coming colder months.

The average electricity debt has risen by more than  $100 between 2014 and 2015, and the wholesale price is expected to increase by as much as 20 per cent from  July.

Last year, Vinnies Winter Appeal distributed more than $4 million worth of assistance to disadvantaged families.

St Vincent De Paul Executive Officer for Maitland and Newcastle Denise Lucas says the community relies on donations especially when disadvantaged families have to make the difficult choice to stay warm.

"Unfortunately most families on a fixed income struggle with electricity bills when they come on a quarterly basis," and particularly when they use more electricity in winter.

"If we receive donations of clothes or furniture obviously they go into our Vinnies shop and the funds which are generated there go directly towards supporting people in our local community. People in the community can support our Winter Appeal with a donation which certainly goes towards helping people in our community with those extra costs during the winter months," said Denise Lucas.

For more information visit www.vinnies.org.au or call 13 18 12

CEO's sleeping under the stars for the 2016 Vinnies CEO Sleepout

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Business and community leaders are set to brave the cold at Hunter Stadium in Broadmeadow tonight, sleeping under the stars for the 2016 Vinnies CEO Sleepout.

The 55 CEO's from Newcastle, both individual and in business teams, will be spending the night at the stadium with only a sleeping bag, three sheets of cardboard and the clothes on their back to keep them warm.

Already, the event has raised $4.3 million nationally, but there is still some way to go to make the national target of $6.5 million.

Regional Operations Manager Ken Hill says Newcastle alone have raised $75, 000 so far and are getting quite competitive.

"We've just got a little bit of a competitive streak going on at the moment because we've found out that Woolongong has raised over $100, 000 and they've got the same number of CEO's so we're trying to get people to get behind it, contact their networks and help raise some funds for this worthwhile cause."

Last year money raised from the event helped provide over 820, 000 meals and almost 258, 000 bed nights for people experiencing disadvantage and homelessness, as well as helping run numerous programs.

Ken Hill says the Sleepout gives CEO's and senior managers a glimpse into what it's like to experience homelessness on the streets and, "utilise their networks and supplement networks to raise funds to help St Vincent de Paul carry out our work with homeless people and a number of different programs that we have".

Major leaders participating in the Newcastle event include Adam Boyle (Pegasus), Kirsten Molloy (Hunter Valley Coal), Clint Newton (Rugby League Player Association), Michael Crocker (Rugby League Player Association), Matty Kerr and Jimmy Wright (Nanna Kerr's Kitchen).