FOR YEARS they have sat on prime land in the heart of Canberra.
Now some of the territory's oldest public housing flats are slated for radical redevelopment under an ACT Government plan to improve public housing stock and free up valuable residential land.
The ''ABC'' flats Allawah flats, Bega flats and the Currong Apartments would be almost entirely torn down to make way for high-density apartments and townhouses under the plan.
Architectural firm Cox Humphries Moss has prepared a concept master plan, commissioned by the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services and released to the Sunday Canberra Times, outlining an extensive redevelopment proposal to house an extra 1500 people a stone's throw from Civic.
The land, after necessary changes to the Territory Plan, would be worth an estimated $63million.
The proposal would lead to the Currong and Allawah flats being levelled, and just five buildings kept from Bega Court.
In their place would rise about 1200 high-density dwellings, including townhouses on the northern side and high-rise apartments on the southern side facing the Canberra Centre.
The plan would also see land owned by the Catholic Church on the western side of the Allawah and Currong sites redeveloped and St Patrick's Church relocated, possibly near Glebe Park.
The residents of 228 public housing units in the Bega and Allawah sites would be relocated to alternative government housing.
Currong, the territory's only high-rise public housing complex, was decommissioned in 2004-2005. It now houses about 170 students from the University of Canberra, the Australian National University and the Canberra Institute of Technology.
The plan would see 10 per cent of the new residences kept for public housing.
ACT Housing Minister Joy Burch said the territory's housing stock would be able to cater for the displaced tenants.
''Some will take the opportunity to move elsewhere, and we will facilitate that,'' she said.
''Those who have an interest in coming back on the site, we will also accommodate that. We will work with each tenant on an individual basis and find an outcome that suits us both.''
The redevelopment proposal will undergo extensive community consultation, and will require government approval and changes to the Territory Plan.
Ms Burch said if all went according to plan the development would take five years to complete.
''Even if all the dominoes line up, it will be the end of next year before we start to move on construction, is my understanding,'' she said.
But with almost 1300 people waiting for public housing and more than 1000 waiting on transfers with the existing stock, community groups, while broadly supportive, have expressed concerns about taking stock offline.
For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times
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