MORE than 700 signatures are on a petition protesting at Mornington Peninsula Shire’s plan for social housing to be built on a reserve at Capel Sound.
Residents say they are not against affordable housing but insist that developing the 10,000 square metre site at 11a Allambi Road will deprive existing residents of the only open space left in the area.
The shire says half of the land will be retained as a park and has accused protesters of circulating “misleading” flyers.
Richard Brown said residents wanted council to hear their voices and acknowledge the findings of the Dropping Off the Edge report that found concentrating social housing was “a bad plan where alternatives existed to provide emergency accommodation with state government capacity”.
The report by Jesuit Social Services and Catholic Social Services Australia classifies Capel Sound as being “significantly disadvantaged”.
Residents have also said the shire’s proposal “harks back to the days of building low-cost housing like the 60s and 70s”, which they say “reinforced disadvantage” to the occupants.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 21 June 2022
