Minister calls for better planning, amenities in new housing developments

Minister of Transport and Works Kirk Humphrey has urged that future public housing projects be designed to make them more liveable, calling for community facilities such as parks, playing fields and adequate parking to be integral parts of every development.

In Tuesday’s debate on the State Acquisition and Vesting of Property Bill, Humphrey argued that past approaches to state housing have, in some cases, fallen short of creating liveable, functional communities.

“It’s always been my view… when we create a housing solution, you build a housing estate, and you bring all of these people into a housing estate, you don’t have associated play parks, you don’t have enough playing areas… don’t have basketball courts… I think we also have to be able to build out facilities to accommodate the people who you’re going to ask to live in these estates.”

Humphrey stressed that housing must go beyond simply constructing units and instead include essential social and recreational infrastructure to support families and children.

While noting improvements in recent approaches, he said large-scale housing developments of the past often suffered from space constraints and poor planning. He focussed on the Grotto and Valery high-rise complexes. 

“I’m happy that we no longer build those massive government estates because invariably you just don’t have the space. I cast my mind to the Grotto. The Grotto, for example, is a lovely housing area [but] it just doesn’t have the parking space,” he said.

He also pointed to structural and design shortcomings in some older developments, particularly multi-storey units that were not built with residents’ practical needs in mind.

“When you look at those housing estates, especially ones where you go upstairs, those are not meant to carry anything upstairs… many of us had taken off the left banister because they couldn’t take anything up the stairs,” Humphrey said.

Parking shortages were another major concern, particularly in the Grotto and Valery.

“We didn’t build enough parking spaces for the people who reside there,” he added.

The minister further highlighted accessibility issues, including inadequate or poorly designed lifts and the absence of proper systems for waste disposal in multi-level buildings.

“Some of them don’t have an elevator… you’ve got people on the uppermost floor but there’s no way to get the garbage down to the bottom,” he said.

Humphrey maintained that future housing developments must be guided by higher standards that prioritise residents’ quality of life.

“I think we have to think clearly about our housing solutions, so that everybody has a minimum standard. When we build these facilities, we have to build in a way that prioritises people,” he said.

(SB)