Gympie’s Jane St caravan park being turned into temporary housing

Gympie’s shuttered Jane St caravan park is getting a major overhaul as part of a $10.5m plan to help support some of the region’s most vulnerable in the wake of the catastrophic February floods.

Gympie’s disused caravan park is getting a major facelift, with the shuttered site to become a home for dozens of families displaced by the floods and ease the ongoing housing crisis.

Twenty-four flexible cabins and homes are being installed on the site to provide homes for about 50 people.

A number of prefabricated cabins are being trucked in from Queensland’s west.

Work has already begun at the park with older cabins being torn out and others repaired.

The park was shut by the council in February 2021.

The closure came in the wake of a June 2020 Supreme Court ruling which found its managers had breached their lease with the council by failing to upgrade the park’s toilets and kitchen.

Long term residents of the park were forced to leave; the park’s ongoing closure has been a point of criticism in the 18 months since.

Two dozen cabins will be opened at the caravan park for families displaced by the floods.

Speaking to reporters onsite Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch said the park’s refurbishment was part of a wider $10.5m plan being rolled out by the State to help Gympie residents affected by the January and February floods.

Ms Enoch said the homes would be configured “in a way that suits the needs of the people we’re trying to support through this process”.

The park will offer cabins with up to four bedrooms.

She also said the plan for the Jane St site was “unique … because of the huge impact of the flooding event and the deep desire of (Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig) and his team to really find innovative solutions”.

“We’ve been able to fast track some of that,” Ms Enoch said.

Mayor Glen Hartwig (left) and Minister Leeanne Enoch examine the plans for the park, which is being upgraded as part of a wider $10.5m State Government investment in helping the region’s housing crisis.

Gympie experienced its second worst flood on record at the end of February, with the Mary River peaking at almost 23m.

Hundreds of houses and businesses were inundated by the floodwaters.

“We pulled out all the stops to be able to get to this point,” Ms Enoch said.

Mr Hartwig said he was “just trying to hold back the smile” over how the plans had reached this point in only a few weeks.

“It means a roof over their head. For some it’s the difference between a tent or some corrugated iron that’s protecting them from the weather,” Mr Hartwig said.

“What a great outcome.”