With the housing crisis continuing to impact local residents, the Blue Mountains Community Land Trust is building its capacity to deliver long term housing affordability for local residents.
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Founded in 2020 by community members concerned about the rising unaffordability of housing, the trust has been hosting community forums and workshops to empower local community to lead the change.
It has recently partnered with a research team from RMIT's Centre for Urban Research, aimed at empowering the Blue Mountains community to tackle areas of critical need, including secure affordable housing, community resilience and environmental sustainability.
The partnership provides funding for a series of On-Country Yarns and Indigenous-led governance training.
To mark the historic partnership, RMIT's research team recently travelled to Katoomba to meet Elders Aunty Carol Cooper, Aunty Norma Ingram, Aunty Bev Eaton and Aunty Kerrie Miller, Walanmarra Artists' Collective, researchers from Western Sydney University and land trust committee members.
The meeting looked at building leadership and organisational skills locally, and also identified the importance of collective capacity-building being undertaken by both First Nations and non-Indigenous community members working together to build relationships of trust.
The On-Country Yarns will give community members an opportunity to talk through pressing issues facing the community, with an emphasis on local housing stress.
The governance training will prioritise First Nations community members and community members with lived experience of homelessness and housing stress to support them in leadership roles.
Aunty Jacinta Tobin highlighted the importance of housing for traditional owners that allowed seasonal movement across Country and, with limited availability of land, other options had to be looked into including the repurposing of empty buildings and the regeneration of existing degraded sites close to shops and transport.
During the meeting, Walanmarra member Aunty Kerrie Miller said: "There's a lot of talk about homelessness and the dire situation, but, you know, as we spoke to Trish Doyle, enough talk. We need land and we need money. And we need businesses and all levels of government behind us to help provide that."
The funding will allow the organisation to investigate options for their first pilot community land trust project hoping to commence in 2024-025. They are seeking membership and support from locals interested in housing justice and sustainable and resilient communities. Contact BMcommunitylandtrust@gmail.com or join their Facebook group.
