Bushfire prone land will become home to some of the territory's most vulnerable after the ACT government determined public housing would be built on a site in Chapman razed in the 2003 fires.
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Three years ago the Land Development Agency rejected the block for aged care due to the bushfire danger. The land is located off Darwinia Terrace and Kathner Street, and is zoned for community facilities.
The current zoning allows supportive housing, which is "restricted by the lease to persons with special housing needs for reasons of age or disability", according to the ACT development code.
When the government was approached by Fairfax Media in 2014 about the bushfire risk it backflipped on the decision to release the land for aged care. The ACT's own bushfire management plan determined it unsuitable for such a development.
According to the plan, "developments that will concentrate members of the community at high risk from bushfire in declared bushfire prone areas is not permissible".
The Chapman block is one of five new sites for public housing. It's the only one in a designated bushfire prone area.
Minister for housing and suburban development Yvette Berry announced the public housing program this week. She said it would improve living conditions "for some of Canberra's most vulnerable residents".
She defended the selection of a bushfire prone site saying it was "entirely suitable" for such a development.
Being in a bushfire prone area, the new development, set to include up to 30 two-bedroom townhouses, will require a minimum standard of construction to mitigate bushfire risk.
"The proposed development will require development approval and will need to meet all of the relevant building standards applicable to the site," Ms Berry said.
"Consideration is being given to the design to ensure it meets any bushfire-specific requirements.
"The cost of the accommodation on the Chapman site will depend on the eventual design."
The public housing sites would be designed so that all dwellings would be "adaptable to support tenants' changing needs and to allow ageing in place", the minister said.
"The ACT government carefully considered all six of the community facility-zoned sites recently announced as part of the public housing renewal program and believes they are all suitable for the purpose they have been identified for."
The minister said Housing ACT would hand-pick the tenants for the Chapman site, "on the basis of their suitability for this particular type of development in this area".
Weston Creek Community Council acting chair Pat McGinn said the community was concerned about the proposed sites.
"Despite efforts from the community council, there has been a lack of consultation with the taskforce until this week," Mrs McGinn said.
