Fraser Coast council progresses caravan proposal to state government, community consultation

A Fraser Coast councillor with a bold idea to help alleviate the housing crisis is ‘relieved’ the proposal is a step closer, but it still needs another important tick.

A bid to allow people to live in a caravan in a backyard long-term will proceed to the next step after the majority of Fraser Coast councillors voted in favour of it.

Division 5 councillor Jade Wellings said she felt “warmed and happy” to be “one step closer” to helping people struggling as a result of the region’s housing shortage after her motion was passed last week.

“I had a feeling it was going to be a split room and it could go either way,” she said.

The current local law allows a person to live in a caravan in a backyard for less than four weeks.

Under the proposed amended local law, people can accommodate family or friends in a caravan in their backyard for up to 6 months in a 12-month period, with the law’s expiry date proposed for December 2027.

Even though the council passed the draft amended local law at this week’s meeting, it will now need to go to the state government and community for consultation.

Division 5 councillor Jade Wellings. Photo: Patrick Woods.

Ms Wellings said the proposal was not about solving the homelessness crisis, but allowing people to legally host family and friends in caravans for longer than the current time frames.

While some of her colleagues did not vote in favour of amending the local law, Ms Wellings said she captured more votes than first thought.

“I respect that we all come from different backgrounds and walks of life with different experience, and that gives us all different perspectives on what we think when we make a decision of any kind,” she said.

Debate continued between councillors for more than an hour.

“I certainly don’t hold any bad feelings towards those who had a different opinion to me because that’s the whole point of democracy,” she said.

With a background as a property manager, Ms Wellings knows the challenges of securing rental properties.

“But I’ve just never before seen good quality tenants that are on professional incomes with children and excellent rental history not being able to get a place to live,” she said.

Fraser Coast councillors voted to progress the draft amended local law at the council meeting on Wednesday, October 26.

Ms Wellings also lived in a caravan for 12 months while travelling around Australia with her family in 2019.

She said she understood how a caravan could “really become a home” for many people.

“Generally the community want us to do something, and I know overwhelmingly there’s been a lot of support in the community for this idea,” she said.

“At the end of the day, we obviously still need to have those conditions and rules that make a community still a liveable place for everybody else, and to minimise the likelihood of any issues for neighbouring properties.”

She likened the caravan proposal to the state government’s granny flat laws.

“I can’t see how they (the state government) would have any other opinion that it being a good idea,” Ms Wellings said.

Part of what inspired the idea, was when the local law was changed so electric scooters could become a permanent fixture on the Fraser Coast.

Ms Wellings then thought about changing a local law for people.

The next stages of community consultation have not been set in stone, but the community is encouraged to subscribe to the council’s engagement hub.

Ms Wellings said she would like to see the proposal in place before January.