TODAY
17o
Mostly sunny
19o 21o 23o THURS
FRI
SAT
www.wangarattachronicle.com.au
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Phone (03) 5723 0100
$1.80 INC. GST
$20,000 JOY FOR YARRUNGA PROGRAM
Page 3
JOIN IN DIWALI FESTIVAL
Page 5
WORK UNDER WAY: Uniting past president Alistair Macrae (front left) and Uniting general manager, housing and property Kristie Looney, with the project team including Ethan Pan - Uniting development manager (left), Natalie Murphy - Homes Victoria, Geoff Dinning - Wangaratta Uniting Church, Carey Landwehr and Ben Inman - Jackson Clements Burrows Architects, Serg Djurovic - D5 Build, Jan Berriman - Uniting head of housing strategy and development, and Chris Kelly - project director Point Polaris. PHOTO: Steve Kelly
Easing social housing strain
tv
plus
GUIDE
Works start on $ $18m Templeton p St units;; p project j to employ p y hundreds WORKS have begun on the $18 million, 44-unit community housing development on Templeton Street in Wangaratta, the first of its kind in regional Victoria, that aims to help alleviate a long 1000-person waiting list for affordable homes across the region. The units will be one and two bedroom, which will house about 100 people, and it was made possible by $13.5m through the State Government’s $5.3 billion Big Housing Build initiative. Developer Uniting Vic Tas was on-
BY STEVE KELLY skelly@ nemedia.com.au
site, with its architect and builder, on Monday, hopeful the project can be completed by the end of 2024. Uniting Vic Tas general manager of housing and property, Kristie Looney, said the development was the first of its kind in regional Victoria and has been “a
dream” project of Uniting’s. “We’ve wanted to redevelop this site which had dilapidated housing, along with some social housing that needed to be updated,” she said. “It’s right in the heart of the city so we’ll really be able to tackle the issue that Wangaratta currently has with over 1000 people on the waiting list for social housing and we will be able to create some beautiful homes. “There are people sleeping rough in the area, on the
riverbanks, there are others in overcrowded situations, and people in housing that’s no longer accessible to them. “The need for community housing in Wangaratta is greater than ever with rents getting higher and home ownership out of many people’s reach. “Cost of living pressures are compounding the issue with people having to make difficult decisions to put food on the table, buy medication or pay rent and bills. ■ Continued page 2
BLUES FESTIVAL TICKETS
TARRAWINGEE
ROVERS LAND CITY RECRUITS SPORT
RED BRICK RADIO JD & THE CAT SOLIS BLUES FIONA BOYES RAMBLE BLUES ROULETTE
2023
SUNDAY 5th NOVEMBER
LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE
