2017-04-11 P&E Agenda Attachment 1 to Item 1 Housing Needs Assessment

The apartments above are all designed with liveability and environmental sustainability as driving
attributes. Apartments have high ceilings, northerly aspect, cross ventilation and natural light to
all habitable rooms. As well as each apartment enjoying a private balcony, the roof top is
dedicated to communal use, containing laundry, clothes lines, vegetable gardens and a large
outdoor dining and social environment. The building is designed to be visibly active and
inhabited and to facilitate the fostering of community for its occupants while significantly adding
to the amenity of the Railway Place and station precinct.

Given the significant level of demand for Nightingale Model apartments a ballot system is being
designed to ensure equitable allocation.

The architects are aware of concerns held about the building not providing car parking and
perceived impacts on both residents and traders. However, it is important to note that the
development has been specifically promoted to potential future residents who choose not to own
a car. Each potential future resident has been made fully aware that they will not be eligible for
resident parking permits. Whilst not for everyone, exclusive use of alternative modes of transport
is increasingly being seen as a viable and desirable alternative to private car ownership for many
people in the inner city. Experience at previous projects, such as The Commons, also suggests
that future residents are highly likely to meet most of their daily shopping needs in the Station
Street Village, supporting local traders.

The proposal was publicly advertised for a 3 week period in March 2016. During this period,
Darebin City Council received over 200 letters of support. Forty-one objections were also
received. Darebin City Council made a decision in favour of the planning application on 23 May
2016. An application for review of the Council’s decision at VCAT has been lodged by 17 local
objectors.

Given the strong focus the project has on reducing apartment costs while delivering high quality,
sustainable homes, this is a disappointing outcome to its promoters. The financial aims of
Nightingale Housing projects are transparent, and the targeted profit margin is set at the
minimum level allowable by the banks, who are needed to lend money for construction.

The appeal process will cause a delay for the project, along with significant legal and holding
costs ($50,000-75,000), which will ultimately result in more expensive apartments for purchasers.

Homes that Fit

A pilot program in Finland has seen a small group of young people live together with seniors in a
Helsinki home, in return for spending a number of hours a week with their elderly neighbours.
The project aims to prevent homelessness in young people by helping them with secure and
affordable housing, while at the same time increasing social interactions of the senior residents.
Helsinki is a city of young adults and senior citizens, and is an expensive city with long waiting
lists and high rents which many young people can’t afford. Loneliness amongst seniors, and also
amongst young people is a problem.

The co-housing arrangement is modelled after a Dutch example where students live in a nursing
home and spend time socialising with the residents. The focus is on informal interaction between
the young people and the residents.

Rudolf Seniors Home is an old apartment building with stairs, making it a difficult structure for
seniors to move around in. Because of this there were 3 vacant studio apartments which seemed
the ideal fit for the project. Early 2015 the City of Helsinki started a recruitment process on




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