I have been walking around the Rocks and Millers Point for the last five years. I am in awe of the heritage landscape, capturing what I imagine Sydney truly looked like in it’s early colonial, convict days. Old police station buildings with intricate stone facade, original pubs in beautiful condition you can almost see the ghosts still lovingly cradling their pints in both hands, and rows and rows of the most phenomenal terrace houses unlike anywhere in Sydney.

I think I am blessed to work in Sydney city and in my lunch hours take advantage of the beautiful sunshine to walk around these historical places, passing right under the Harbour Bridge, walking beside Sydney Harbour with full view of the Opera House and straight into these quiet pockets of history a mere 20 minutes from my office building. Millers Point especially is like a different world with its beautiful large houses and stone buildings. Almost no traffic passes through here, it is not on-the-way to anything, and very few people wander the streets.

I have often thought given the size of the houses and the quiet nature of the area, coupled with the amazing views across the Harbour and the proximity to the CBD, living in Millers Point would be wonderful, even to raise a family. I would stare longingly into the empty windows of the grand terraces, admiring the original floor boards, the sheer size of the rooms and the preservation of original features and wonder how much it would cost to buy one.

I was vaguely aware of some mid 80’s low rise apartment blocks and townhouses that were Government housing but I had no idea some of the beautiful terraces were Government housing too. I just though the area was living up to its ghost town vibe, with potential residents possibly put off by the Government housing neighbours. I hardly ever saw these tenants.

That is why I am so surprised to learn that the Millers Point Community, the vast majority of which are Government housing tenants, are in an uproar about the Government selling off these amazing houses. What “community”? I have never seen people walking their dogs in the street, kids playing in the park, or old codgers hanging outside the pub having a smoke and reminiscing about old times.

I understand the Government housing tenants are upset they have to move, and no doubt to a far less prestigious and sensationally located suburb than Millers Point, but it comes down to the simple economics of supply and demand.

The market value of these houses are in the millions of dollars as discovered from the recent sale of a few of the long uninhabited houses, which indicates the Government housing tenants could not afford to buy their homes. In addition, the value of these houses means the rent would be exorbitant and therefore also unaffordable. But not just to the Government housing tenants, but most normal people! Millers Point and its houses are hot property. Estimates predict the Government could make up to $500 million on the sale of these houses. Think of the social projects they could invest in with that sort of money. It is smart for the Government to sell off a small number of non-producing assets and release this capital for better use.

On one of my walks I saw a billboard with some stories of these tenants and reasons why they should not leave.

One tenant claims no-one wanted to live in Millers Point 30 years ago. To that I say, times change. Millers Point was inevitably going to attract interest, it is incredible it has taken this long. And a 30 year tenancy is unheard of! The Government housing tenants have been lucky to have lived in in the one house for so long.

Another tenant stated they were settled in Millers Point in 1981 when they immigrated to Australia. What luck they had! When my mum immigrated to Australia in 1949 she and her family were settled outside Parramatta in an immigrant area built with tin houses, otherwise known as “Silver City”. My grandma never moved far from there, working herself to the bone to eventually afford a small house in St Mary’s, from where she finally moved into a nursing home 50 years later.

What I would love to see is Millers Point re-energised. Those beautiful houses open and aired and lived in, children running up and down the halls, dogs barking in the yards. Restoration of the rundown heritage properties to their former glory. Life on the streets! People sipping piccolos in cafes, sitting in the parks admiring the priceless views, talking to and laughing with eachother, neighbours borrowing a cup of sugar. If that means the Government housing tenants are relocated and these beautiful heritage homes sold to the highest bidder, so be it. Because the Government housing tenants have done nothing for the community that I can see, and Millers Point is too beautiful and interesting to be left languishing. Bring on the gentrification!