Why Cliff Road's beachfront Housing Commission units were built on prime land

"Why did they devote such a prime piece of real estate to that?" they ask, perhaps under their breath.

The answer seems to be, quite simply, because no-one cared about such things as beachside real estate back when they were built in the 1950s.

In the stories and letters to the editor published in the Mercury about the construction in the early 1950s, not one of them raised the question as to whether ocean views for such a development was appropriate.

Aerial shots of Cliff Road in the 1930s through to the 1950s show nothing but houses facing the water; not a single block of flats or high rise to be seen.

In fact, the Housing Commission units at 76-78 Cliff Road may well have been the first apartment block on the now much-desired street.

An aerial photo from 1938 showed that site completely vacant and it apparently stayed that way for a decade before the state government effectively gazumped Wollongong council.

The council had eyed the land as a perfect place to build accommodation for its key workers, but the purchase never happened because it believed there was more suitable land available elsewhere. Though probably not with ocean views.

Housing Minister Clive Evatt toured Housing Commission sites on the South Coast in January 1950; he was especially impressed by the quality of the tenants' gardens and thought organising a garden contest would be a splendid idea.

On that trip he announced plans to call for tenders to build the Cliff Road apartments - made up on 40 two-bedroom units and 17 one-bedroomers.

Because government seldom moves fast, that tender call didn't occur until August 1950, with the successful bidder chosen in December.

By early the following year, the flats were under construction - part of a regional boom that saw more than 1000 commission homes built or going up in previous years.

To get an apartment wasn't a matter of being put on a waiting list; instead there were ballots held, where the winners got a roof over their heads.

But some had to enter multiple ballots before they won; for instance, the Kennedys had been living in a Corrimal garage and waiting six years before they won.

We know this because the papers covered each ballot, even listing the names and addresses of all the winners.

That led to some headaches, such as landlords seeing their tenants' names and arranging for someone else to move in, only for the original tenants' switch to their Housing Commission unit to be delayed.

The Cliff Road flats were completed in mid-1952 and given the names of "Bass House" and "Flinders House".

Not long after they were finished a few criticisms began to surface about the flats - but none about their waterside location.

According to an anonymous Mercury columnist, the apartments weren't all that impressive inside. "The rooms are astonishingly small and the bathroom accommodation would never have done had the city council building inspectors had any say".

There were also complaints about residents crossing the road and throwing their rubbish over the cliff, a city council health inspector saying staff had cleaned up the area "several times".

There were also complaints the council had not paid attention to the upkeep on Cliff Road, where the population had massively increased because of the apartments.

It wasn't those new residents who were the problem but the invisible footpaths that forced people onto the road.

Foot-high grass was growing along the side of the road, covering up the kerb and guttering.

"Residents in this area are forced to walk on the already narrow roadway and are menaced every time they step outside their houses and flats by the heavy flow of traffic," the Mercury reported.

But still no-one had an issue with those less-well-off getting to live on Cliff Road. Who knows, maybe people's attitudes were better then.