Public housing residents at 150 Inkerman St, St Kilda, have notched their second big victory. Last Friday, Homes Victoria acceded to their demand for a systematic plan to eradicate bed bug and cockroach infestations.
The residents, most of them between the ages of 55 and 90, have been suffering from years of managed decline by the landlord – the ALP-led Homes Victoria – in the run up to the announcement this January that their building is being targeted for demolition and displacement.
Organising to stop the demolition, residents have also pushed hard to reverse this process of managed decline. They have called for 24/7 security and the total extermination of bug infestations. After winning a 24/7 security team in June, Homes Victoria sent a letter to all residents on Friday announcing their next concession.
‘Following recent reports from residents,’ Homes Victoria writes in the letter, they have ‘contracted a specialist pest control company to undertake a detailed assessment and identify hot spots, including across all common shared areas. The contractor will inspect and treat apartments in the hot spots … Apartments adjacent to identified hotspots will be inspected’.
Empty apartments are also being fumigated, one of the residents’ key demands.
This second victory comes after 60% of Inkerman St residents signed a petition calling for their homes to be protected. They also elected a 44 Flats United residents committee, and half of them have put up ‘Declarations of Non-Cooperation’ with the ALP/Homes Victoria displacement attempt. The residents committee issued a letter at the beginning of June demanding security and bug eradication.
After being initially stone-walled on bug infestations, a team of residents put on hazmat suits and started doing the job themselves this month. Their collective pressure is the only thing that has caused Homes Victoria to take action after years of neglect.
This victory again proves the power that residents have when they come together, united. Residents at the six other public housing buildings being targeted for displacement this year will be encouraged by Inkerman’s success.