Block edging closer to rebirth

Over the past two decades it has developed a reputation for crime and decay.

Many houses have been demolished to make way for promised improvements to the area, which is home to the highest density of Indigenous communities in Australia.

Now it appears redevelopment is closer than ever, with two separate formal plans for the Block.

One plan - the Built Environment Plan - has been developed by the Redfern-Waterloo Authority.

It proposes to spend $32 million on, among other things, a community health centre, pedestrian bridge, a new town centre and upgrades to Redfern railway station.

Sixteen million of the $32 million will be spent over 10 years to provide affordable housing for Aboriginal residents.

The Authority could not confirm how many houses the project includes, or whether it will offer home ownership or tenancy.

The other vision for the Block is the 'Pemulwuy Project'.

It has been created by the independent Aboriginal Housing Company, led by Mick Mundine.

The Pemulwuy project includes a business college, spiritual centre, art gallery, and a gymnasium.

Peter Vallilis is the project manager for the Aboriginal Housing Company.

He says most of the houses on the Block are infected with mildew and infested with vermin, because of cracked flooring and ceilings, and inadequate sunlight.

Mr Vallilis says the only option is to tear down the houses and start from scratch.

"The simple fact is, these places are over 100-years-old and they're well past their use-by date. And the mildew is because sunlight doesn't get in to them," he said.

"The new design will have three sides light, cross ventilation. Just the basic design will be incredibly healthy in comparison to this. It will be 1,000 per cent better."

"Everything is shocking in these places. People shouldn't be living in these places, it's as simple as that."

Part of the Pemulwuy Project is called the 'Home Clinic'.

It has been designed specifically for Aboriginal residents of the Block, by Col James, who is the Director of the IB Fell Housing Research Centre at the University of Sydney.

Mr James says he has spent seven years visiting almost 5,000 Indigenous communities across urban and regional Australia, to find ways to improve their living conditions.

"The origins of the home clinic and wash room really came out of workshops that were conducted by the Aboriginal Housing Company, where we had a lot of health professionals," he said.

"And we were probing the idea of what is special about what is needed on the Block to maintain health as a priority, and also to relate to the lifestyle that Aboriginal people talk about."

Mr James says when it comes to housing, there is a common misconception about Indigenous people.

"The common complaint is that Aboriginal people don't know how to live, they don't know how to look after that," he said.

"That's crap."

"It's the designs and the fittings. If you've got eight kids and you're washing to make sure they don't get cross-infection, the machine won't handle it. There has to be better commercial quality washing machines."

Mr James says he and his team of researchers were instructed to build a facility that would cater for elderly and disabled residents, and was separate from the main living areas.

"Elders are a very fundamental part of the family. We want to house the whole family, we don't want the elderly to go off to nursing homes because they are the people who look after the kids."

The cleaning room includes special flooring, a toilet and shower in an adjoining space, secure medicine cabinets, large basins for washing children, a combined washer-dryer machine, and doors and windows that open to outside areas.

The design is incorporated into the 62 proposed new homes in the Pemulwuy Project.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Housing Company, Mick Mundine, says the cleaning room also has the potential to reduce the rate of child sexual abuse.

He says the majority of the troublemakers at the Block are visitors.

"At a lot of parties, the toilets are inside. Men then go inside in to the toilet, and that's where you get a lot of interfering with young children," he said.

"So with the home clinic outside, when they have parties there is no reason for any of the adults to go in to the house, where the bedroom is."

The Planning Minister Frank Sartor will have the final say on which project, or if a combination of the projects, goes ahead.

The Pemulwuy project is expected to be submitted by the end of May.

Legislation requires the Department of Planning to make a decision within 40 days of a submission.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1914261.htm

ABC Related Video

Take a tour of the Block and get a closer look at the Pemulwuy project.

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Col James talks about his creation, the cleaning room, designed for Aboriginal residents living on the Block.

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