Public get first look at Malanda housing solution site

A unique co-living project nestled in the rainforest next to Malanda has opened to the public with the work in progress touted as a local solution to our national housing crisis.

An artist's rendering of the Ginn Road property which will be used as a proof of concept for the PeoplePurposePlace project. Image: Supplied

A building site nestled in the rainforest next to Malanda has opened with the work touted as a local solution to the national housing crisis.

The building on Ginn Rd is the work of Queensland not-for-profit People Purpose Place and will provide a home for five individuals caught in the crossfires of the current housing crisis.

Sitting on a five acre partly forested site, the home will include five bedrooms each with their own ensuite, a communal kitchen and dining area, a shared outdoor area with a fire pit and its own space for a community garden.

Christine Doan, a long time Tablelands resident and community activist, said the project had been in the works for three years.

“The two innovators are Rowan Blizzard and his business partner Darren Finlay. We have been friends and colleagues for a long time in development, environment and building,” she said.

“They came to me and presented this idea that really foresaw the middle class housing stress that we are now experiencing.

An artist’s impression of the Ginn Rd property's communal living area. Photo: Supplied

“No one was thinking about the middle class finding it difficult to find shelter in Australia, it just didn't happen in the past.

“The vacancy rate in Cairns is under 1 per cent and there are thousands going through this stress in Cairns alone.”

Interested parties or those looking at how they could join the cue to be involved in the project were able to attend the Malanda site last week to see the project in reality with the slab set and the construction on the frame underway.

“We have been focused on the Tablelands since July last year and now we have a building being built and the rest of the project underway,” Ms Doan said.

Work on the building's frame has commenced with construction expected by the end of the year. Photo: Supplied

Ms Doan said the project was much more than just simply building a residence for people.

“Anyone can build a building but what we have seen is most are not suitable for today’s housing market, they are built for the nuclear family leaving out a large section of the population,” she said.

One of the first priority groups for People Purpose Place are women over 55.

“We are focusing on older women first, these are people who may not have built up their pensions, may have divorced or lost a partner or have other circumstances that have kept them out of the market,” Ms Doan said.

An artist's rendering of the Ginn Road property which will be used as a proof of concept for the PeoplePurposePlace project. Image: Supplied

With an ageing population, a high cost of housing, and a significant gap in wealth between men and women across their lifetimes, older women represent the fastest growing group at risk of housing insecurity in Australia.

“There is also a lack of housing for essential workers in agriculture, public service, health in the Tablelands, this is all about middle class housing stress,” Ms Doan said.

The People Purpose Place process also coaches prospective tenants or owners to find likeminded individuals and establish households which provide comfort, security and a place of belonging.

“We have a coaching program to help these people find their way into a new form of housing that is suitable to them and provides a feeling of community,” Ms Doan said.

“We are building right now, it is an idea that needs trying out so we are putting together this pilot program as a proof of concept to show what could be part of a bigger solution.”

Originally published as Public get first look at Malanda housing solution site