Between 1972 and 1989, not one, not two, but five massive public housing estates were built in Campbelltown by the Housing Commission of NSW.
These estates were established at Airds, Claymore, Minto, Macquarie Fields and Ambarvale.
Over time some of these areas suffered from design-related issues such as poor surveillance, social disadvantage, and infrastructure challenges.
Crime rates soared and so plenty of fed up locals just packed up and left.
For a time, many residents would not even visit our main street, Queen Street, because they felt it was not safe to do so.
Not at night, but during the day as well.
Eventually, Claymore, Airds, and Minto entered multi-decade renewal programs aimed at shifting from majority public to mixed tenure communities (generally 70 per cent private, 30 per cent social housing).
But not before Campbelltown’s image took a battering.
We were invariably a “houso’’ enclave, a “dumping ground’’ for those at the very bottom rung of the demographic ladder.
Apart from the insults, it meant our young people had to lie about their address when seeking jobs outside of Campbelltown.
Instead of Campbelltown they’d put down “Macarthur’’ instead – one of the reasons the latter term has gained some currency.
Some still do this, not believing that the stigma is completely gone.
And for decades investors wouldn’t touch us with a barge pole.
We have only now started to recover, and for someone to naively suggest we should go back to having more social housing beggars belief.
Plus we are already doing more than double of the average Sydney council across the metropolitan area.
It’s true housing costs in Campbelltown have increased considerably faster than household incomes, rental vacancies have tightened, and projected population growth is expected to increase housing demand.
But that’s a nation-wide issue, and to suggest Campbelltown should be more “aspirational’’ in our social and affordable housing targets is totally off the mark.
The Labor Party councillors got this 100 percent right on Tuesday night when they voted down this bid for a 10 percent target.
Which is interesting because there was a time Labor loved Housing Commission and social housing generally.
Why? They pretty much all voted Labor.
But Mayor Darcy Lound, Campbelltown born and bred, knows the history of the town, unlike some recent arrivals to our town.
I can’t but commend him and his colleagues, and indeed all the councillors who voted together on this matter.
