Paddington residents unite to support threatened boarding house resident

Boynton’s best friend and fellow resident, Steve Deer, 70, said they were blown away by the response.

“I always thought we weren’t important; we were a different class of citizens than other people who lived in this area,” said Diehl, who has lived here for 10 and a half years after a relationship broke up and his lawn-care and gardening business went bankrupt due to bad weather.

“But they proved me wrong. They said we were an important part of the community and the support they gave us was amazing. It was great to know that we were important and that people cared about us and were doing everything they could to take care of us. It was amazing.”

More than 50 hand-painted banners were hung on homes throughout the community, reading “We Stand With Our Neighbors! Save the Boarding Houses!”, “Protect Our Neighbors From Homelessness” and “Our Neighbors Need Your Support. Please Help Us Help Them!” The petition has already collected more than 10,000 signatures.

Neighbours passing by called everyone by name, shook their hands and assured them that everyone was helping as much as they could. Sydney City Council rejected the development application for the boarding house, and the matter is now before the NSW Land and Environment Court.

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Event co-ordinators Michael Mannix and Will Mrongovius have asked the City of Sydney to consider purchasing the boarding house, especially given the council recently sold a council carpark in Redfern, estimated to be worth $20 million, to a community housing provider for a symbolic price of $1 to build a not-for-profit aged care facility.

But when contacted by this reporter, a city council spokesman said, “As the matter is still before the courts, we are unable to provide further comment.”

However, Green Party councillor Sylvie Ellsmore, chair of the Housing for All Taskforce, said the council should consider using developer contributions to buy boarding houses and that the amount of contributions should be increased, particularly in rezoned areas.

“Council could buy the houses and bring in other not-for-profit organisations to manage them,” she said. “Waverley and Randwick councils have done that (buying older homes) and Canada Bay council is discussing it.

“Look at the number of boarding houses that are now for sale! Council action is a fairly common way to protect housing and sometimes, it’s the only way. At a time when we have so few affordable homes, prices are not prohibitive and we can protect vulnerable people right now.”

The campaign is also asking the state government to pass laws to prevent boarding houses from being converted into other types of housing, and to impose a moratorium on rent increases so residents are not forced to quietly move out.

When asked, Housing and Homelessness Minister Rose Jackson said the government recognised any potential loss of housing, particularly for vulnerable people, would be a “significant detriment” to the community.

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“Expanding social and affordable housing is a priority for the NSW Government,” she said. “In our recent budget, we allocated $5.1 billion to build 8400 new public homes, in addition to a $528 million homelessness package. This significant investment will not only improve homelessness services, but also ensure crisis accommodation is properly funded.”

“We want to be clear – if you are struggling, we can find you a safe place to sleep while we work to build more homes to tackle chronic homelessness.”

Meanwhile, Boynton, Diehl and everyone else in the boarding house worry about being kicked out. “It’s like a little village here, everybody knows each other and takes care of each other,” said Boynton, who was laid off four years ago when the Salvation Army cut services.

“I’ve been to hospital three times in the past two years and Steve comes to see me every day. I really don’t want to leave and I can’t afford to rent anywhere else in Sydney. I just want to stay here.”