Squatters at the old Woodstock hospital picket in Main Road, Woodstock. PICTURE: SUPPLIED
Squatters at the old Woodstock hospital held a picket on Monday to protest against the City’s plans to sell the site.
The future of some 800 squatters at the property, which they call Cissie Gool House, hangs in the balance, as the window the City has given the public to comment on the sale closes tomorrow, Friday January 31.
The City plans to sell the hospital for a mix of social housing and open-market development. The plan has drawn flak from the Woodstock Residents’ Association (“Questions over City’s plan to sell hospital,” Tatler, November 28).
At a meeting in November last year, the association said residents wanted the site developed for social housing. They questioned why the City wanted to put it up for sale while it was occupied and what would happen to the squatters.
On Monday, about 70 squatters marched from the hospital to Main Road, up Victoria Road and back down Mountain Road. Leader Karen Hendricks said they wanted meaningful engagements with the City and development that included them.
“We were planning on doing the picket in October last year but decided to do it now with the public participation process drawing to a close. We not only wanted to garner support but counter the narrative around our occupation,” she said.
“We want the City to come and see for themselves what we have done with the property and what our vision for the site is.”
The City should make public the full 2019 Stedone Report, she said, adding, “We believe there are important recommendations in there. The Stedone Report also found that the site could accommodate up to 800 units instead of the 500 the City is considering.”
A Woodstock Residents’ Association meeting, which drew about 100 people, at the Woodstock Town Hall on Tuesday January 21, resolved to write a letter to the mayor and City officials asking for more information, the release of the Stedone Report, meetings with interested parties and for the public participation to be extended by 60 days from the release of the report. The letter, with 1056 signatures including those of a dozen civil society groups and 350 Woodstock hospital squatters, was sent on Monday, according to the association’s chairperson, Ute Kuhlmann.
“Sharing all necessary information with the public and facilitating public meetings is required for the City to discharge its duty of holding a meaningful participation process. We look forward to a positive response to the Stedone Report release request and the engagements over the next few months as promised by mayoral committee member for human settlements Carl Pophaim,” she said.
Collaboration among those at the hospital, the Woodstock community, civil society and the City was needed for a lasting solution, she said, noting that a steering committee had been established at last week’s residents’ association meeting to aid such a collaboration.
“The debate around Cissie Gool House implicates all of us. The questions at the heart of this debate - spatial justice, housing, gentrification, heritage, participation, and the responses of both the state and the people to these intersecting issues - reverberate throughout our communities,” the letter said.
Mr Pophaim said he would seek further discussion with all parties, including the squatters, once the statutory written process had ended.
“The City has been clear about our intention to garner meaningful, feasible and constructive written input on the proposed vision for this site, which includes the development of affordable housing opportunities for qualifying residents. The public participation period will be four months in total, which is a considerable period for input, which exceeds the statutory required 30 days. All feasible options will be assessed in terms of the applicable legislation and council policy,” he said.
Ms Hendricks said the squatters’ future remained unclear as many did not meet the requirements for the mixed-use development.
“This is our home. Many of us have been here for eight years. We have built communities. This is a space that accommodated many families that were displaced. We don’t want our residents to be left displaced by this development,” she said.