Social housing to be built on site of former Parkhurst Tennis Club courts

The club has been sitting abandoned for 15-plus years but could soon be knocked down to make way for Department of Housing properties after council agreed to sell it.

Department of Housing has requested to purchase the former Parkhurst Tennis Club land from Rockhampton Regional Council to build social housing.

The abandoned tennis courts at Parkhurst could be knocked down to make way for social housing as the state government looks to buy the land off council.

The half-hectare allotment at 888-896 Yaamba Road, Parkhurst, has been owned by Rockhampton Regional Council since 1986.

The site is the home of the former Parkhurst Tennis Club which has been unused for 15-plus years.

Tennis courts remain on the site, in a poor condition, along with a clubhouse and a shed.

The land at 888-896 Yaamba Road Parkhurst to be sold to Department of Housing.

The courts were earmarked in 2021 to be demolished, among a list of other council-owned properties that had reached the end of life and required significant maintenance works, however it fell off the list when tenders were released in April 2022.

It is sandwiched between the Parkhurst Country Club for Accommodation and Parkhurst Caravan Park and is zoned as low-density residential.

A report was presented to the council table in December stating the council had provided the Department of Housing with a list of council-owned land suitable for social housing.

It states the Department of Housing has completed their initial due diligence and has requested to buy the land from council at market value.

It did not detail what the social housing would include.

Under Local Government Regulation 2012, the sale price must be determined by an independent market valuation report.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing, Local Government, Planning and Public Works told this publication the property was identified as part of the vacant council-owned land following the Queensland Housing Summit.

“As part of growing social and affordable housing supply, the department continues to assess and acquire vacant properties across Queensland,” it said.

“This includes blocks of lands, where suitable for the construction of social and affordable housing.

“Should the department’s detailed investigations support the purchase and approval to acquire the site is received, design and development assessment would then be progressed.”

The blue and white brick Parkhurst Hall is on a separate title and was purchased by the owner of the Parkhurst Country Club for Accommodation in 2005 for $130,000.

Dances were quite often hosted at the hall by the Parkhurst Tennis Club, with many advertisements published in pages of The Morning Bulletin newspaper in the 1920s and 1930s.

The advertisements listed first-class pianists were engaged to provide the music and there would be Monte Carlo Waltz, confetti one-step, chocolate waltz and other novelty dances for an admission fee of two shillings, with buses from Craigilee House in Park Avenue.

Council will now move forward in the paperwork to offer the tennis club site to the Department of Housing.

The former Parkhurst Tennis Club land off the highway, taken in January 2023.

RECENT SOCIAL HOUSING PROJECTS IN ROCKHAMPTON

Construction began in November 2023 on a new $4.77 million-dollar social housing complex with 10 units on Campbell Street in Rockhampton City.

Land on George Street and Campbell Lane was purchased by the Department of Housing in March 2023 for 12 social housing units.

Since June 2020 there have been 38 properties built in Rockhampton and Gracemere.

There were 3904 social housing dwellings on the Central Queensland register in March 2022 and 592 persons on the social housing register as of June 2023.

Originally published as Social housing to be built on site of former Parkhurst Tennis Club courts