Latest suspicious blaze reignites Katherine public housing concern

Northern Territory Housing Minister Bess Price made the revelation this week amid claims the government had waited too long to take action on the fate of the unit complex, which has been the target of multiple suspected arson attacks since it was abandoned.

The Power Crescent property has been vacant since it was declared “beyond economic repair” in December 2012 and a decision regarding its future had been up in the air until now.

The latest fire was contained to one unit, with two fire crews dispatched after a triple-0 call came in at 1.19pm on January 27.

The bulk of the fire was contained within five to 10 minutes, and, on the scene, Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service Katherine station officer Chris Manuel said it was the sixth fire he had attended at the property over the past three years.

When asked why the government had waited so long to make a decision, Mrs Price suggested one could be publicly known as soon as March.

She told the Katherine Times that all reasonable attempts had been made by the Department of Housing to secure the property, adding that any decision would be made in the context of the development of the NT’s public housing strategy.

“This is being moved forward and there will be a decision on the future of this site announced very soon, before or in early March,” she said.

“Security fencing was installed around the entire complex in 2015, and the grass is mowed regularly to enable the units and property to be visible from the road at all times.”

Firefighters confirmed the fencing had not been installed until the fifth fire and said it was “reasonably secure”, as they needed to cut it in order to extinguish last week’s blaze.

The government would not confirm, nor even estimate, how much money had been spent on the derelict property on Power Crescent since it was vacated in 2012.

While Katherine Town Council collects rates for the property, the Department of Housing refused to release figures on its upkeep, stating that “the only maintenance cost is security fencing”.

Additionally, a NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson said “there is no way for us to be able to put a figure on time and money spent on attending and investigating these fires”.

However, an emergency services source, who asked not to be named, said given the cost of the human resources and equipment involved in each call-out, it was likely the bill would be a “small fortune”.

Any money being spent indirectly maintaining the abandoned property is to the detriment of countless Katherine residents who are crying out for more public housing.

Public housing is likely to be a hot-ticket item at the August election and Member for Katherine Willem Westra van Holthe asserted that he had done all he could to bring the issue of the attention of previous housing ministers.

“Every bit of damage that’s done to those apartment changes the government’s thinking, of course, every fire, every bit that happens there changes the way we look at future options for those apartments,” he said.

“We’re getting to the pointy end obviously; I’m pressing the Minister, in fact various housing ministers over some time, to reach a resolution on what will happen to those units.”

The fate of the property could go in any direction, as Mr Westra van Holthe said ideas from renovation to selling it in the private market had been mooted.

“Demolition has been considered as well,” he said.

“In the case of those particular units in Power Crescent, they are well and truly passed their use-by date.”