Housing development planned

AN international operational mining company has announced plans to begin a resource industry-based housing development operation in the Rockhampton region.

An example of Landtrak Group’s modular housing for mining communities. Plans are underway to install 19 houses and 14 apartments in Blackwater.

AN international operational mining company has announced plans to begin a resource industry-based housing development operation in the Rockhampton region that will support the accommodation needs of the ever-growing Bowen Basin coal and gas industries.

Astra Mining, based in Adelaide, has secured approximately 1000 housing blocks in Gracemere, Mount Morgan and the Capricorn Coast region, which they hope to develop to support the mining industry.

Astra Mining media liaison Caitlin Petrou said the region is connected to the mining hub of the Bowen Basin by rail and is ideally positioned to accommodate the fly in, fly out mining and mining services workforce.

“This link with the steadily growing mining community, and the increasing demand on existing infrastructure, is expected to have a large influence on the housing and accommodation needs of the region in the medium term,” she said.

“Astra Mining Ltd plan to capitalise on this demand for housing by focusing on developments in locations that provide easy access to both the Bowen Basin and Gladstone.”

Astra Mining Ltd managing director Silvana De Cianni said: “The supply and demand in the area, which is supported by the smaller mining communities’ needs for reasonably priced off-site accommodation, underpins the feasibility of Astra Mining Ltd’s concept for development of the region”.

The company is currently in the process of acquiring development-approved sites from Landtrak - a leading development and investment group in Central Queensland.

Landtrak managing director Paul Czislowski said Landtrak is a local company that has been dealing with Central Queensland development projects for 25 years, including a current housing development project in Blackwater that will provide 19 new houses and 14 new apartments.

“The modular housing we provide is designed to provide housing solutions to the community as they cope with the expansion of the industry around them,” he said.

“There is $200 billion worth of approved projects in CQ, and a critical requirement for quality housing to support these projects.

“The demand on existing infrastructure will only increase with the amount of new projects underway, and we’re in the business of supporting local communities so they can cope with that increase.”

The Landtrak Group’s Blackwater housing developments are some of the first to be approved by the Urban Land Development Authority.

There are currently 54 operating coal mines in Queensland, with another four mines under construction, three of those are in the Bowen Basin. A further 28 projects have mining leases granted or are under application.

Originally published as Housing development planned