Townsville City Council applying for first round of Crisafulli Governement’s Residential Activation Fund

Townsville City Council are throwing their hat into the ring for a piece of the government’s initial $500m fund to deliver ‘critical’ new housing infrastructure to assist with the region’s housing shortage crisis.

Townsville is in the grip of a housing shortage with residential construction needing to be ramped up. Picture: Zak Simmonds.

Townsville City Council are throwing their hat into the ring for a piece of the government’s $500m fund to deliver“ critical” new housing infrastructure to assist with the region’s housing shortage crisis.

The council have announced they will be applying for the first round of the Crisafulli government’s Residential Activation Fund, with a total of $2 billion to be distributed across multiple rounds.

Local governments and landowners with development applications can apply for the funding, to be used for infill or greenfield sites, such as water supply, sewerage, stormwater, power and roads.

A spokesman from the Townsville City Council said financial support of this kind from the government is vital to ensure the development industry, local government and utilities can deliver “necessary enabling infrastructure to service new housing development.”

“Council is working closely with the development industry to identify the best opportunities to invest in infrastructure that will enable a further acceleration in new housing development in Townsville,” they said.

“Opportunities have been identified for all the key growth areas in Townsville and for all key infrastructure types including roads, water and sewerage.”

Townsville will need to overcome its shortage of skilled workers if it is to overcome its housing shortage with new builds. Picture: Zak Simmonds.

Premier David Crisafulli said the Residential Activation Fund would mean more housing for Queenslanders sooner, with $1bn “guaranteed” for regional Queensland.

“We’re delivering a place to call home for more Queenslanders sooner by kickstarting new housing developments with critical infrastructure,” he said.

“This unlocks land to build more homes sooner, opening the door to home ownership earlier to ease the Housing Crisis and drive down costs for Queenslanders.

Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Jarrod Bleijie, said the Residential Activation Fund would be a "gamechanger" to address housing demand for Queenslanders.

Premier David Crisafulli talking at a press conference. Picture Lachie Millard

“We want to see houses coming out of the ground as quickly as possible, and I urge councils, developers and landowners to submit their applications for the Residential Activation Fund,” he said.

Townsville City Council said a successful application would mean enabling infrastructure could be developed with less upfront investment of money by developers or Council, “enabling projects to start faster and delivering more new lots, allowing more new houses to be built”.

With recurring issues with Townsville’s roads and sewerage systems, including the ongoing problems with sewerage overflowing in suburbs including Wulguru, which has become known for its ‘poonami’ issue with raw sewage every time it rains, the council said it was important to note that the funds are not available to manage existing infrastructure.

Originally published as Townsville City Council applying for first round of Crisafulli Governement’s Residential Activation Fund