40+ submissions from readers on what to do with Howard Springs quarantine facility

NT News readers have weighed in on what could and should be done with the now empty accommodation and facilities at Howard Springs. SEE ALL THE SUGGESTIONS

WITH the gates to Darwin’s world-renowned quarantine facility now firmly closed for the foreseeable future, the question turns to what could be done with the space.

While previously used as workers’ accommodation for the boom of Inpex staff at the end of 2018 and best-known for it’s role in housing returned travellers during the height of the Covid pandemic, the options for the space are endless.

The 67ha accommodation was built to house around 3500 workers and includes a cinema, swimming pool and gym.

It even won a state commendation award for urban design in the 2014 Northern Territory Architecture Awards.

The federal government will pay the NT government $5m over the next financial year to keep the centre on standby.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Foundation NT boss Catch Hatcher has suggested the area could be used to draw more workers to the Territory and help solve some of the workforce shortages.

“Along with the Department of Health we are trying to entice nurses, midwives, doctors, all other health care workers to come to the NT to work and the trouble is there is very little to no rentals in Darwin, Alice, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Gove,” Ms Hatcher said.

“Recently in Katherine the hospital have been trying to get accommodation for staff and then they purchased a rental for $1100 per week. That’s ridiculous.”

Cath Hatcher is the secretary of the Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation NT branch.

Ms Hatcher said using the rooms for staff would really help ease the pressure of gaps in workers at the hospital.

“This accommodation will be beneficial for staff to work at Royal Darwin Hospital and Palmerston Regional Hospital or surroundings clinics,” she said.

“There can be a bus, at shift times dropping & picking up. There can be someone cooking at the centre, as the rooms don’t have kitchens.”

Women’s shelter Dawn House executive Susan Crane said the availability of rooms at the facility offered the Territory “a temporary solution to an urgent problem”.

“The lack of housing options for women and children escaping domestic violence and homelessness is really, really dire,” Ms Crane said.

“There is not enough vacancies in private rentals or public housing to meet the need of people needing shelter.”

Ms Crane said with a “bit of tweaking” the rooms provided a great option for the short-term, as shelter including Dawn House were forced to turn people away without appropriate housing for them.

“There’s a bottleneck in our transitional properties because people have no other places to go,” she said.

She suggested the only issue was with a lack of kitchen but there were workarounds.

“They could add a communal cooking area or provide some sort of catering option,” she said.

“You could also link in with current agencies so there’s outreach support for women staying there.”