Real Deal welcomes new housing, seeks answers on who will benefit

REAL Deal Geelong has welcomed the social and affordable housing now under construction in Waurn Ponds but wants more detail on how the homes will be allocated.

Construction started last month on the Silverbrook development, which will eventually include 400 homes, about 100 of them designated as social and affordable housing.

The project will be delivered in stages through to 2031.

“We’re pleased to see government land being used to help address housing need in our region,” Real Deal Geelong spokesperson Josephine Taylor said.

Social housing is allocated through the Victorian Housing Register to people with the greatest need, while affordable housing is generally allocated by housing providers using eligibility criteria for low and moderate-income households.

Silverbrook is now being built in stages in Waurn Ponds and is expected to be complete in 2031. Photo: supplied.

Real Deal Geelong said it would welcome more information about how the 100 homes at Silverbrook would be divided between social and affordable housing so the community could better understand who the development would support.

Taylor said there was no single solution to the housing shortage Real Deal Geelong was working to address.

“Developments like Silverbrook are an important step but they need to form part of a broader, long-term approach that increases housing supply and ensures people can access safe, secure and affordable housing in the communities where they live,” she said.

Silverbrook was originally planned as the athletes’ village for the Victorian Commonwealth Games before the event was cancelled and relocated to Glasgow, Scotland.

The development is now one of five local projects being delivered through the Regional Sports Infrastructure Program established after the cancellation.

Construction has also started on the Waurn Ponds Sporting Complex near the Silverbrook development but it is not expected to be complete until next year. Photo: James Taylor.

The Commonwealth Games begin later this month.

A new hockey pitch at Banyul-Warri Fields in Torquay North was the first local project completed under the program, opening in December last year.

Upgrades at the Stead Park hockey venue in Corio, Tarratarra Stadium in Armstrong Creek and stage two of the Wurdi Baierr Aquatic and Recreation Centre in Torquay are due to be completed by the end of this year, while the Waurn Ponds Sporting Complex is expected to be finished in 2027.

“We are getting on and ensuring regional Victoria still receives the housing, tourism and sporting infrastructure benefits that would have been facilitated by the games,” a state government spokesperson said.

”The facilities will service the community sporting needs of the broader Geelong community for many years to come.”