Standing tall on the highest point in the CBD, the John Northcott building in Surry Hills is home to almost 600 public housing tenants. The design of the building has, since its construction, caused navigation problems for tenants, visitors, and service providers alike. The building has four inter-connected blocks and 13 egresses. The blocks, reminiscent of a gaol, were titled A Block, B Block and so on. There was no actual street number and tenants had to use their block letter, level number, unit number and the name of the building in their address. To further complicate matters, where the units and letter boxes were listed level first then unit number, Housing NSW had the reverse in their data base system – unit first.
For a building with 420 units, emergency services had over 8,000 different configurations. B12/14 Northcott could be listed as 12B/14, 14/12B. Valuable time was lost in responding to emergency calls, with services often attending the wrong unit on the wrong level, which had, on occasion, resulted in tragic outcomes.
After a safety audit again highlighted the issue (completed in 2012), Lands and Housing Corporation, the owner of the asset, committed funds to the renumbering project and work began in early July. Tenants will receive a new unit and street address, numbered much like a hotel. New letterboxes and unit numbers will be installed, along with clearer signage and easy way-finding measures for visitors to the building. Discussions with the Post Office, the Electoral Office and the City of Sydney have ensured all stakeholders are up to date with the scheme.
Colleen Hepburn, the Chairperson of the Surry Hills Public Tenants Association, noted the change is making some tenants, especially the elderly, anxious, and is asking Housing NSW to keep tenants informed and support them throughout the implementation process. She said tenant representatives would be available, through the Northcott Community Centre, to assist tenants in understanding the changes. Housing NSW will be informing certain agencies like energy providers of the change, but tenants will be given a list of agencies and people they will have to contact themselves.
