Why Flinders, Richmond Shire councils want houses built for CopperString

CopperString means hundreds of beds at worker camps, but staff will be stationed out west once the power line is running. Will northwest Queensland towns see any benefit in housing once the workers go?

Western councils along the path of CopperString are calling for houses to remain long after the worker camps have packed up and gone home.

While the $5bn project aims to unlock cheap and renewable electricity and power smaller mining operations, every council from Townsville to Mount Isa is looking to leverage the power line into broader resource and agricultural developments.

The early stage of building the 1000km powerline is under way, and councils are getting ready for proposed work camps at Charters Towers, Pentland, Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek and Cloncurry.

There are 800 construction jobs and 30 operational jobs tied to the project.

Flinders Shire chief executive Hari Boppudi envisions tidy little new cul-de-sacs being built in conjunction with the temporary houses needed during construction.

Flinders Shire Council chief executive Hari Boppudi. His council will host the largest CopperString worker camp. Picture: Blair Jackson

Once the builders have gone, Mr Boppudi wants the operational CopperString staff to stay behind and to raise their families in Hughenden; and they won’t want to do that from a donga.

Even though the towns dotted along the Flinders Highway have houses on nice big sections and plenty of land to build on, tradie shortages are squeezing the shire councils perhaps even harder than in the cities.

The Hughenden grape farm, owned by Marciano Table Grapes. The Flinders Shire Council hopes to leverage CopperString into more horticulture projects in the area. Picture: Townsville Enterprise

And the last thing these shire councils want is people who already live in the towns being priced out. The work camps for the project could have about 300 beds. The councils want 10 to 15 per cent of that workforce to be housed in new, permanent homes.

“The big investors can afford $500 a week, but in town the market is $250 to $300 per week,” Mr Boppudi said.

He said the councils and Powerlink are working together, with the company being great at dealing with issues.

Powerlink’s executive general manager of major projects, Ian Lowry, said early discussions were happening with Flinders Shire Council in particular about using camp infrastructure for long-term accommodation.

“The project team is also keen to work with other councils along the alignment to consider similar opportunities,” Mr Lowry said.

Wind turbines at Windlab’s Kennedy Energy Park at Prairie, near Hughenden, Queensland. Various companies are making moves to build renewable farms along the route of CopperString. Picture: Blair Jackson

Since Powerlink took ownership of CopperString in March, the project team had been focused on transmission line design, statutory approvals and engagement with landholders, councils, the wider community and other key stakeholders along the proposed alignment from south of Townsville to Mount Isa.

Richmond Shire Mayor John Wharton is acutely aware of chances to bring new families to town with CopperString, and the abundance of power-storing battery minerals in the area.

“We’re on the precipice of some big times,” he said.

Richmond Shire Council Mayor John Wharton. Picture: Blair Jackson

But the next step needs careful planning.

“We don’t want a boom and bust.”

“Ergon has seven employees in Richmond, and CopperString is three times as big,” the Mayor said.

He expects Powerlink to build houses for their staff.

“They will have to build them, otherwise they’re fly-in-fly-out again and you can’t have that with power lines,” Cr Wharton said.

At least the pipes in Richmond can handle a swollen population. There were 600 people in town now, and the sewerage could handle 1500, the Mayor said.

Cloncurry is a key distribution point for CopperString, but there’s only a couple of rental houses available in town at the moment. Picture: Blair Jackson

Continuing westward, Cloncurry Mayor Greg Campbell is eager for the main distribution point of the transmission line to be in his shire.

“The council have not got to the stage of saying to Powerlink ‘we want a percentage of houses to be permanent’,” Cr Campbell said.

His council is building nine houses and amending the planning scheme to unlock land, because there was only “one or two” rentals available at the moment.

The Hughenden camp may house up to 400 workers, and the other camps could have up to 200 workers at peak periods.

Planning to date included engaging early with local councils about the camps to ensure they brought positive benefits to the area, and that any potential impacts could be worked through and minimised, Mr Lowry said.

Originally published as Why Flinders, Richmond Shire councils want houses built for CopperString