A coalition of civic groups yesterday rallied in front of the Taipei City Council to protest a proposal signed by a majority of Taipei City councilors that says public housing projects should only be carried out after gaining the consent of residents living close to proposed sites on the Taipei City Government’s i-Voting online polling platform.
Housing Movement spokesman Peng Yang-kai (彭揚凱) said the 32 city councilors who endorsed the proposal should immediately retract their signatures, adding that those who suggested policies promoting public housing during their 2014 election campaigns should honor their pledges.
The proposal, introduced last week by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor William Hsu (徐弘庭), says the city should only introduce public housing projects after they are approved in an “i-Vote” by at least half of residents living within 500m of a proposed site.
Photo: Lu Heng-ching, Taipei Times
The legislation at one point collected 55 signatures among city councilors, but 23 retracted their signatures after the proposal met with strong criticism from netizens, who said the bill was aimed at blocking public housing projects and would create an obstacle to upholding “residential justice.”
Peng said that most residents living within 500m of a proposed site are homeowners and that the council should not submit to the will of homeowners while neglecting people who need public housing.
Residents in Xinyi (信義) and Wenshan (文山) districts, where planned public housing projects are more concentrated, have expressed concern over tenants living in public housing degrading their quality of life, adding to traffic congestion and new buildings blocking views, Peng said.
He said that while city councilors have every right to monitor housing projects and he fully supports the notion that the city government should take public opinion into consideration, he is against a “rigged” i-Vote that would pit the desires of a handful of homeowners against people who need public housing.
He said some homeowners feel that public housing would hurt rental prices.
“Following that logic, public kindergartens and public parking lots should never have been opened. Just let the private sector run everything,” Peng said.
Peng said the number of qualified voters within 500m of a site has to be calculated, adding that the proposal is not feasible.
“All concerns associated with public housing should be addressed at a professional level and city councilors should not get carried away by irrationality,” he said.
The Taipei Department of Urban Development said it has held 15 public hearings since February at sites designated by the city government to build public housing, adding that it would continue to arrange hearings to more accurately gauge public opinion.
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