00:02Edwina Haworth has lived in her Elbert Park apartment for almost 25 years.
00:07And the tower is not just a home, it's a community.
00:11I got involved with my neighbours and made, well, some lifelong friends.
00:19But that's all set to come to an end.
00:22Edwina's tower is one of seven that now flagged for demolition.
00:25Under the Victorian Government's plan to knock down and rebuild all 44 of Melbourne's public housing towers over the next
00:3125 years.
00:33I've been really, really depressed about the whole thing. I feel betrayed.
00:39All seven recently earmarked towers house vulnerable older Victorians.
00:4582-year-old Edwina has emphysema.
00:47I wouldn't be able to move. I couldn't. I can't do six paces without getting breathless.
00:54When they were moved here, they were told that this would be their forever home.
00:58Grassroots organisation 44 Flats United says 60% of residents in Edwina's tower have so far signed a petition opposing
01:06the demolition and are refusing to leave.
01:09They can't tell us even the basic question of what is wrong with this exact building.
01:14Why does it need to be demolished? Why can't the issues be repaired?
01:17Last month, the Victorian Government rejected a recommendation from a parliamentary inquiry that it pause the redevelopment program until it
01:25demonstrates that demolition is a better option than refurbishment.
01:29The Victorian Ombudsman has also opened an investigation into the Government's treatment of residents.
01:34These towers were built in the 1960s and 1970s and they weren't built to last forever.
01:40To meet contemporary building codes, we'd actually end up with less housing than we have now.
01:47Some residents in Edwina's tower are expected to be moved to Port Melbourne's new barrack beacon development, but it's unclear
01:54where the rest will go.
01:55The
01:56the window and it's right there.
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