In a meeting on Wednesday night at Woden that grew heated and at times bitter, a group of 180 people showed their exasperation with the plan, and questioned where profits from the sale of public housing along Northbourne Avenue would be invested.

Residents rejected the location of some sites selected for public housing in the suburb, saying they wouldn't be suitable for people with disabilities and would lack parking.

One Shackleton Circuit resident asked why residents weren't consulted about the controversial plans.

"How come we were not informed until The Canberra Times published an article that this was your intention and why is consultation happening after the event instead of before?" one resident said to strong applause.

One resident said the consultation had been "poor" and said the development would be "horrendous"

"It's the fact you're building on what people think of as a block of land, there's been absolutely no consultation," he said.

"I'm sorry, you need to consult people on this."

In one heated moment, another Shackleton Circuit resident accused the government representative of giving an "automated" response to questions and said the government had not thought through its plans, arguing that the public housing would cause parking issues.

"You really have to have a hard think about what you're doing," she said.

"You've missed the most obvious question and that's the parking to start with, and that's without even building anything yet."

One crowd member expressed her support for public housing tenants moving into the area, while another asked how those being moved felt about relocation.

A resident was worried about the impact of public housing on house prices.

"What happens when the price of my home, my family home drops and I'm still paying my mortgage?"

Executive director of the Public Housing Renewal Taskforce David Collett said suburbs where public housing was located had some of the highest property values.

He said a site marked for public housing between Mawson Drive and Shackleton Circuit was "ideal" for the new dwellings.

"These are good points, these are exactly the feedback we will need," he said of criticisms raised by residents.

The ACT government has unveiled sites for 141 new public housing townhouses and apartments in five suburbs in Canberra's south.

The sites are in Monash, Holder, Chapman, Mawson and Wright.

Most of the developments are groups of single-storey, two-bedroom townhouses, except at Stapylton Street, Holder, where the plan includes apartments.

The new homes will be used to house tenants moved from the public housing flats on Northbourne Avenue, which are being demolished to make way for tram-related redevelopment, and the inner south, where the troubled Red Hill flats are about to be demolished.

The new homes will also take tenants from the public housing waiting list.

The government will have a consultation session about the public housing proposal on Monday April 10 from 11am to 1pm at the Quality Hotel, Woden.