Hopes to turn potential Central Qld Olympic housing into affordable long term housing

One local man is dreaming of the long term wins of hosting Olympic events in Central Qld.

Rockhampton Fitzroy Rowing Club coach Phoebe Doolan, State Member for Rockhampton Donna Kirkland, Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry, Capricornia Chamber of Commerce president Jason Foss, The Shelter Collective Chair Dave Grenfell and Rockhampton Fitzroy Rowing Club Nick Thompson are pushing for some Olympic events to be held locally.

With the push for Rockhampton to host the 2032 Brisbane Olympic’s rowing and canoeing events on the Fitzroy, one man is thinking how such an opportunity could be used to create legacy housing for the region.

The Shelter Collective executive founding member and chair Dave Grenfell is hoping with careful planning the accommodation built for the visiting athletes could be used to alleviate the housing market.

“You got a housing shortage which is causing the rental crisis and a housing crisis,” he said.

“If there was going to be an infrastructure project that builds houses to house the athletes, then provided that the village can be changed into affordable housing post the Olympics, that would help us in the future with affordable housing.”

Fitzroy River generic

If Rockhampton is successful in its bid to host the events, it is estimated that 1200 housing units would be built.

Mr Grenfell explained that many working villages, be they for athletes or project workers often comprise of one bedroom housing units with ensuites that could be easily adapted.

“When you look at the design of a village for housing for games, sports or the Olympics or even a village for housing a construction team, get that design right you can then transform, post that construction project post that sporting event, those rooms into three bedroom homes just by taking out a couple of walls. Then you can have families move in.

“Let’s say you had 750 rooms, single bed. That would probably transform into 98 three bedroom houses. If you had 1200, you could transform that into maybe 150 homes; two bedroom and three bedroom homes.

“You’ve got more stock in the market.”

Keppel Bay Sailing Club are putting their sails to the wind in a bid to bring the 2032 Olympics Sailing competition to the Capricorn Coast.

Though Mr Grenfell is thinking ahead, he nonetheless emphasizes the housing crisis is a here and now problem.

“The Olympics is 10 years away, we need to fix the problem now,” he said.

“That (the potential athlete’s village) will help us in the future but we need to be building properties now to actually help us now.

“The problem is going to worsen, I can’t see it getting any better.”

Mr Grenfell said providing affordable housing isn’t just about helping those struggling but is also about securing the future of Rockhampton.

“If we want to attract people to our community and we want to drive economic development, we’ve got to have somewhere people can live.

“We’ve got a lot of work coming into the region, the ring road, lots of other projects… I don’t know how we can sustain or improve our economic development if we don’t really start to build a lot more houses in our region.”

The Shelter Collective Chair Dave Grenfell is pushing for some Olympic events to be held locally.

Though the situation for housing in general is grim there is some bright news.

Figures from Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal all regions except the Gold Coast enjoyed a boost in the number of approvals of new houses and units in the 12 months to January, rising by 6.3 per cent across Queensland.

For Mr Grenfell, he believes that solving the housing situation is key.

“If we could solve this (the affordable housing issue) it would help us alleviate all the other problems we’ve got,” he said.

“It’s got to be the number one priority.”

Originally published as Hopes to turn potential Central Qld Olympic housing into affordable long term housing