THE phone call only lasted three minutes.

When it was over, Craig Basham’s 30-year-old transportation, equipment and supply business, along with the 30 people he employed, was in disarray.

“We’re very upset about it,” he said. “There was no talking to us at all about the possibility of this ever happening, no communication at all.

“We were just given a phone call one morning and told there was gonna be an announcement that we’d be asked to move on and that was all there was to it.”

Mr Basham’s property is one of several in the iconic working class suburbs of Redfern and Waterloo being “compulsorily acquired” by the NSW Government.

The businesses, along with the 4000-5000 public housing tenants in the area, are being forced out as the government pursues one of the most aggressive gentrification programs in the world right now.

Under the Baird Government, this traditionally blue collar neighbourhood will be turned into the highest density suburb in the country, comprised almost entirely of luxury apartment blocks.

Once the working class and public housing tenants have been removed, an extra train station will be added, ultimately along with 70,000 people per square kilometre - that’s three times the nation’s second highest density suburb, Pyrmont.

It is a housing density seen only in pockets of New York and Hong Kong, and beyond anything in Singapore.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has described the proposal as “shocking” and pledged to fight the state government on behalf of the city.

“This shocking proposal would do untold damage to city communities as awe all as the state and federal economies — it will effectively kill the goose that lays the golden egg,” she wrote on her website.

It’s been a particularly tough for Craig Basham, who recently spent millions renovating his warehouse for the coming decades.

“It’s come as a very rude shock,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of people that catch public transport to Redfern station, walking distance from [our workplace], who catch buses and get off across the road, and who live in the local area, so we’re in a very difficult position. Now we have to find somewhere else to move to,” he says.

He’s not hopeful. Nor is Peter Sadoridis, the mechanic next door. He says he “paid a premium” for his property 30 years ago to himself the chance to ride his bike from the family home in Erskineville to work each morning.

Once his property is compulsorily acquired by the government early next year, he says there’s no way he will be able to set up another workshop. Even if he had the money to wage a bidding war against billionaire property developers, the government wouldn’t approve a commercial license for his shop anyway.

“Council will not give me a DA [development application] for a workshop anywhere,” he said, also slamming the development application and approval process.

“They [the NSW government] are gonna rezone it all to 20 story buildings. They won’t zone it for me for 20 story buildings so I can make the big money selling it. We’re allowed to go up to five stories and they’re allowed to do whatever they like,” he says.

“They’re judge and jury. They can do what they like and make as much money as they like,” he said.

Across the road at the Waterloo public housing towers, the locals are digging in to fight the government.

The formidable tent embassy protest camp has relocated from its victorious stand at The Block in Redfern to the base of the towers.

It is being headed by Richard Weeks, a 61 year old former-school teacher, military veteran and public housing tenant in the area of over 30 years.

“Six months ago we got a letter from the state government telling us about all the wonderful things they are doing around here. Then a small paragraph in a four-page document indicated to us we will be moving out in 2017,” Mr Weeks said.

“In early February it was followed by a meeting with [NSW Social Housing Minister] Brad Hazzard who had all his staff dressed up in pink T-shirts with love hearts on them.

“He said ‘I’m delighted to advise you today we are going to do some wonderful things in Waterloo’,” he said.

The public housing tenants were to be evicted, but they’ve been given the chance to move back in over the next 10 or 20 years, as the new-look Redfern-Waterloo area takes shape.

But already that idea looks to have been shelved, with plans for the government’s first housing project failing to include any housing for people on low to medium incomes.

As racial and economic tensions boil over around the world — in Britain, France and the US — Mr Weeks is stunned the government would try and dismantle what he says is one of the most “unique” and multicultural communities in the world.

“This is the most unique place in the world,” he said. “We have 27 nationalities here and we have every religion there is plus all the denominations of Christianity living in one community … Everybody here is just one community.”

He beams with pride when telling the story of a Muslim and a Jew who expressed their solidarity with the public housing protest recently.

“Yesterday a mufti, a Muslim, came down here from the prayer centre and asked if could he sign the petitions with his wife.

“He said ‘Can you give me some more sheets from the commission? I’ll take them back for our friends to sign it’. And his wife said ‘No, there’s no need for that. When I was having lunch with the Jewish ladies yesterday they gave me some’.

“And I thought where in the world will you find a Muslim sitting down having lunch with Jews?”

Redfern. That’s where.