Tuesday 10 March 2015

Millers Point - Stalking Sydney Tower


Sydney Tower was open to the public in August 1981. It affords wonderful views of the city, and cameras are welcome, unlike the Bridge-Climb where cameras are banned but they will sell you photos!

The hassle with Sydney Tower, is its omnipresence. Every time, I turn around, there it is. Many times I have to step across until I can manage to hide it behind something else.

However, this post is not about Sydney Tower, but about Millers Point, and its current predicament. Millers Point hugs the shoreline immediately to the west of the southern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is a very old quarter of Sydney, many of its houses dating from the turn of the century (ie, 1900), when a massive proportion of housing was bull-dozed on the pretension that they housed the plague. Or even THE PLAGUE!

Now, some of the buildings in Millers point date from the first half of the nineteenth century, which for this country is very old, and historic, even. But many are simply old, ramshackle, and in want of attention, either from a tradesman, or from a bulldozer. The issue is, many of the structures are owned by the state government, as part of their social housing stock. They have tenants; some of whom have lived there for decades, in subsidised housing. Now, the government wants to liquidate its stock, and the tenants are up-in-arms. I can see both sides of this arguement, but being a pragmatist, sense what is going to eventuate.

There is more to this story, so will chat it through for the next couple of posts. I am doing double-time child-care this week and last, so my time is limited, not to mention my energy of an evening.

7 comments:

Joan Elizabeth said...

What I can't understand is how the people who are being ousted say they have been then for multiple generations. I thought Government housing was to help people get on their feet not keep families off them forever.

Julie said...

Yes, there are a couple of inconsistencies in some of the details. I have not read the "multiple generations" whinge, but have read thge "multiple decades" whinge.

The other aspect that I find hard to swallow is the people who live in the houses saying that they are not "for sale", when these people do not actually own the propeties.

But as you will come to realise, ideologically, I am conflicted. I am trying to look at this issue pragmatically.

William Kendall said...

It sounds like a complicated issue from both points of view.

Joe said...

Mrs J did the bridge climb last week Julie. You are correct no cameras allowed. I can understand it. Don't want any unwanted hardware plummeting on to the bridge or into Davies locker. Mrs J does wish however that the photographs the sell could be a little more flattering. The regulation khaki jump suits do nothing for the complexion.

Alain said...

Cela parait assez sympa, mais cela ne doit pas être assez rentable pour le propriétaire.

Julie said...

I have not done Bridge-Climg, Joe, but my children have. The suits are thge pits!

Julie said...

Alain, I suspect the houses on the inside are straight out of the 1950s, with utilities prehistoric. The rents would be very low, for properties that would sell in the current market for millions of dollars!