Whitsunday housing crisis forcing families to flee

With Queensland families being forced to live in tents and caravans, one council has unveiled a new plan to allow more people to live in its coastal paradise. See what’s proposed.

Bowen local and owner of The Blue Elephant Second Hand store Peter Maddison. Picture: Contributed

Whitsunday families are being “forced out of town” and into “run-down” houses and caravans as the council puts forward its plan to deal with the fallout of the housing crisis.

One method of attack is reducing the size of dual occupancy blocks from 800 sqm to 600 sqm, which councillors unanimously approved at the most recent meeting of Whitsunday Regional Council.

It follows the release of a report that weighed up options on how to combat the issue with strategies including reducing residential lot sizes, allowing for larger granny flats and encouraging accommodation over commercial developments in Mixed Use Zones.

Whitsunday mayor Julie Hall said the council had consulted with the community over three months about affordable housing options to encourage diversity.

“As a result of this feedback, we’ve reduced minimum lot size for dual occupancy and increased the size of the granny flat from 100 sqm to 120 sqm, making it more liveable and reflecting the desire for more and varied housing opportunities in our area,” Ms Hall said.

“In addition, (the) council has agreed to allow infrastructure charges to be paid over three years to help encourage and alleviate the cost of development.”

Ms Hall said council would continue seeking advice and support including working with the private sector and other agencies to further alleviate housing pressures.

But as the housing crisis reaches a boiling point, more people are sleeping rough unable to find affordable accommodation in the Whitsundays.

The Blue Elephant second hand store at 2 Tracey Street, Bowen. Picture: Katrina Lezaic

‘THEY ARE FORCED OUT OF TOWN’

Bowen resident and owner of second hand furniture store The Blue Elephant, Peter Maddison, said while he knew the housing crisis was nationwide, he felt it acutely as a community member with friends who were homeless.

“If they can’t find somewhere to live there are three things they do,” Mr Maddison said.

Bowen local and owner of The Blue Elephant Second Hand store Peter Maddison. Picture: Contributed

“The first option is they force themselves on other friends or family.

“The second option is they move into a caravan park, and the third option is they move to the outskirts of town and live in a run-down house or caravan.

“They are forced out of town.”

The Blue Elephant second hand store at 2 Tracey Street, Bowen. Picture: Katrina Lezaic

Mr Maddison said he knew a family forced out of Bowen and into Ayr in a desperate bid to find a home.

“They love Bowen,” he said.

“And he (the dad) has to make the 120km commute each day for work.”

‘PEOPLE COME IN WANTING TO BUY TENTS’

The Blue Elephant employee Brenda McGrath said people came in wanting to buy tents because they had nowhere to live.

“They’ve been really happy cause they’ve got a roof over their head, but it is sad. They just haven’t got the finances and they can’t afford the rent – if you can get something to rent,” Ms McGrath said.

Bowen local and retail assistant at The Blue Elephant Brenda McGrath. Picture: Katrina Lezaic.

Pressure points including a Covid-19-induced exodus into the sunshine state from major cities across Australia, as well as extreme weather events in areas like New South Wales, has created what has been labelled the “perfect storm”.

POPULATION TO SOAR BY 11,000

With an increasing annual population growth, the Whitsundays is estimated to hit 49,591 people by 2041, up from 38,000 at present, a Aurelius Marina Research group report states.

Mr Maddison says a compound at the Bowen Showground would allow people to camp in tents or dongas “under the watchful eyes” of caretakers.

“For certain people I know, like this family, that would have suited them fine,” he said, adding it was only bureaucracy that stood in the way.

“It should have been expedited from day one and run like a military exercise … a little bit like going through a cyclone or massive flooding.”

Addressing the housing crisis, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk last week unveiled the decision to now double the $1 billion Housing Investment Fund.

Queensland Council of Social Service CEO Aimee McVeigh, in responding to the state’s plan, said regional Queensland had the least affordable housing in the country.

Ms McVeigh said more properties must be built immediately to boost stock in the social housing register as rental affordability had “declined dramatically over the past two years” as part of a long-term trend.

“There are 303 residents in Whitsunday Regional Council area on the social housing register,” Ms McVeigh said.

Vacant blocks of land in the town of Bowen. Picture: Katrina Lezaic

HOMELESSNESS SOARS BY 27%

“Regional Queensland is the least affordable regional area for rentals in Australia and has experienced 27% growth in homelessness over the past four years.”

Ms McVeigh said the state government had announced some very welcome emergency measures that would support Whitsunday residents in acute need over the Christmas period.

“But the Government also needs to articulate when it will start building homes in Bowen, Proserpine, Airlie Beach and other towns, and how many it will build, so that every person in the region has a roof over their head by 2032,” she said.

“We need to tackle supply by increasing the number of homes built, regulating short term lettings and repurposing existing government assets,” Ms McVeigh said.

There are also suggestions to allocate land for the building of modular-style housing in the Whitsundays which Mr Maddison said could be built in a day.

Vacant blocks of land in the town of Bowen. Picture: Katrina Lezaic

Councillor Mike Brunker said there were 150 vacant lots in Bowen but there were a shortage of builders plus “blown out” supply costs were stymieing action.

“Drainpipes went up 30 per cent in a matter of three months,” Mr Brunker said.

“It’s been a perfect storm with Covid and people moving out of the cities.

“Before Covid we had 1500 rentals in Bowen and after Covid we were 200 short.”

He said the council had consulted with prefab companies that had modern designs that could work in a joint venture, including on council-owned land at Airlie Beach.

Mr Brunker said the housing crisis was unusual in that it was impacting workers, adding the traditional assignment of housing to public service workers like police officers, paramedics and teachers had “dwindled off” over the years.

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