Council owned land at 23-25 Ashton Avenue, The Entrance, will become the first of Council’s affordable housing projects.Pacific Link Housing Limited will partner with Council in the first stage of Council’s Affordable Housing Land Proposal program, adopted back when the Council had councillors in 2019.
The announcement of Pacific Link Housing, the only locally based Tier One Community Housing Provider, as the preferred partner, follows an Expression of Interest process.
Pacific Link Housing will now work with Council on the design and delivery of an affordable housing development on the identified site at Ashton Avenue, The Entrance.
Pacific Link Chairman Wal Edgell congratulated Central Coast Council on the vision and foresight in adopting the innovative approach,.
“We look forward to working with Council, local architects, consultants, contractors and the local community in developing affordable housing and potential community space,” he said.
“The proposed development will benefit all of community, from both a social and economic perspective, and provide secure housing to those in greatest need in our community.”
Pacific Link Housing’s CEO Ian Lynch said the proposal contemplated would have an integrated tenancy base, comprising largely of affordable housing for key workers, with other tenancy arrangements to be included, but yet to be fully determined at each end of the housing continuum.
“Pacific Link Housing will manage the property in the long term, providing asset and tenancy management as well as the coordination of wrap-around support services as needed.”
The decision was confirmed at the Council-under-administration meeting on November 22.
In a report tabled at that meeting the council said that while traditionally affordable housing was not Council’s core business the implementation of the proposal and the development of the trial site provided the opportunity for leadership to address what it called “this significant social issue”.
The report talked about the risks involved.
“There is a reputational risk linked to the perceived loss of community land which in principle is for all residents, and the fear of developing pockets of concentrated social housing, which is a theme that arose from the public exhibition of the Central Coast Affordable and Alternate Housing Strategy,” the report stated.
“These risks can be managed through community education about the distinction between affordable housing and social housing, the perception of loss of
community land and a transparent engagement process with the preferred proponent.”
