Affordable housing crisis highlights North Burnett residents’ concerns in council feedback

As the North Burnett Regional Council gathers community input for its new corporate plan, housing and childcare availability have been revealed as among the top issues.

Housing affordability in the North Burnett has been revealed as a central concern for residents.

The issue of housing availability and affordability in the North Burnett has been revealed as a central concern for residents after the council called for community feedback in developing its new corporate plan.

Councillors have been holding listening posts across the region and speaking to residents directly, two surveys are available on their website, and several polls have been posted on the council Facebook page asking for feedback.

Almost 500 votes were recorded across three separate polls asking residents what they wanted from the council, what areas they believed needed more investment, and what services were most important to them.

In a poll asking how the council could best support local businesses and encourage new ones to open, more than a third of the comments spoke about housing, even though it was not mentioned in any of the options.

Almost half - 48 per cent - of voters said town centre infrastructure improvements were at the top of their list.

The issue of housing availability and affordability in the North Burnett has been revealed as a central concern for residents after the council called for community feedback in developing its new corporate plan.

Some suggestions from commenters included revamping main streets, making sure footpaths are safe, and creating an inviting space people want to walk around in.

However, multiple people said none of the possible options would increase liveability and that the lack of available and affordable housing was the real issue.

Several commenters said the lack of housing and essential services like childcare made it difficult to live in the region.

“Why is tourism up for discussion when lack of services and housing is a much bigger factor?” one commenter said.

“I can’t afford to live in North Burnett anymore and the lack of supports is creating catastrophic outcomes for our family.

“Tourism and buying local isn’t going to fix any of that.

“We need more housing to bring new families to town and also to keep the ones that we have here,” another commenter said.

“There is plenty of work opportunities in Mundubbera, but not enough housing to house new families with young children to stay.”

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The issue of housing availability and affordability in the North Burnett has been revealed as a central concern for residents after the council called for community feedback in developing its new corporate plan.

Multiple people said the subdivision and rezoning regulations made it too difficult and too expensive for people who were looking for more economical living arrangements, like tiny houses or portable homes.

“There are no rentals and the land available is either too small or too large to build for normal families,” one person commented.

“The rules around subdivision make it too difficult.

“This needs to be addressed.”

According to realestate.com, there are no residential properties available for rent in Eidsvold, Munduberra, Gayndah, Mount Perry, or Biggenden.

Monto had just one property listed for rent.

A North Burnett Regional Council spokesperson said they thanked all community members for their input but did not comment directly when asked about how the council planned to address the issue of liveability and affordable rent.

“This poll, along with several others, was recently undertaken by the North Burnett Regional Council as part of its early engagement with North Burnett communities to inform the development of Council’s next Corporate Plan,” they said.

“The intent of these polls is primarily to capture initial feedback from the community to guide the development of the vision in the new Corporate Plan and to gain an understanding from residents and local businesses in relation to which Council services are of importance to them.

“This feedback will be assessed and used to prepare a draft Corporate Plan, which will be the subject of a further community engagement process later in the year.”

Initial community feedback closes on Sunday, February 16.