Townsville City Council takes a shot at $bn regional housing pool

Housing and its tight vacancy rate is among Townsville’s biggest challenges. The state government is offering money, but how is the city council taking advantage of it?

Greater Ascot is Townsville's newest residential subdivision and has become a popular home destination since it was launched this year. Parkside Development, it is designed using traditional neighbourhood urban planning principles.

Townsville City Council is building up a case to tap into the state government’s $1bn pool set aside to address a housing crisis, which Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney defines as a priority challenge to address.

The city’s vacancy rate sits at about one per cent in the most recent figures and from this year another 500 Australian Defence Force personnel and their families will move to the North Queensland capital.

And the strain is hitting vulnerable members of the community, including an 89-year-old grandmother who has a month to vacate after the owner chose to put the house on the market.

Councillors will meet with state government representatives next week and it is understood a strong case has been pitched as to why Townsville needs the funding to incentivise development.

“There is no doubt housing is one of the main issues concerning our region right now,” Ms Greaney said.

Deputy Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney said housing supply was among the main issues for Townsville. Picture: Evan Morgan

“As set out in Council’s Local Housing Action Plan that we adopted in October last year, we are working alongside stakeholders including industry and our Local State Government members to prepare submissions to secure funding for trunk infrastructure that will enable further development of necessary housing in our region.”

Division 2 councillor Brodie Phillip said the funding application would focus on roads, waste and sewerage and said the council’s application was almost completed.

“There’s just a little bit of shoring up that the council officers have been doing since the draft document just making sure we’ve got all the figures and stuff correctly.

Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto and Division 2 councillor Brodie Phillips have recently lobbied together on North Shore infrastructure needed for the growing area. Picture: Chris Burns

“I can’t see why we shouldn’t get what we asked for.”

Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto said he had been able to look at the draft application, which would potentially be significant for the northern suburbs, and it was on Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie’s radar.

“It has the potential to unlock around 6000 blocks in the northern corridor here, which is massive for Townsville,” Mr Dametto said.

Thuringowa MP Natalie Marr said the housing infrastructure was competitive, and she did not want Townsville to miss out on it. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

“You know, we’re putting a very compelling case forward, we’ve got on the front foot.”

Last week Thuringowa MP Natalie Marr said the highly competitive funding was available to regional councils as she warned it was “first come, first served”.

She said the housing infrastructure fund was important and part of the government’s commitment to tackling the housing crisis.

While there were concerns with infighting within the council last year, she said the council had been organised in putting its bid together quickly.

“Throughout the election campaign we heard from industry leaders and local councils that truck infrastructure costs were a significant barrier to increasing housing supply, particularly in regional Queensland,” she said.

“That is why the Crisafulli LNP Government guaranteed that $1bn of the $2bn housing infrastructure fund will be exclusively dedicated to support vital infrastructure in regional Queensland.

“I have met with and will continue to meet with the Townsville City Council as well as local industry representatives to ensure that Townsville is ready to go once applications open.”

Division 5 councillor Vera Dirou said the increased 500 Australian Defence Force personnel being stationed in Townsville would put a strain on rental availability, and also with prices.

“Defence housing is really scarce as well, it seems there’s a lot of problems, and it’s a lot of stress on families when they move all the time not to know if they’ve got somewhere to actually live,” Ms Dirou said.

While Ms Dirou had been given the details of the council’s funding application, she hoped that it would benefit the community and alleviate her concerns.

Division 10 councillor Brady Ellis said he was confident in the “brand new line-up” within the council’s leadership headed by Ms Greaney, who was focusing on the project.

“I’m confident now that we’re going to get the representation that our city deserves at a state and federal level, whereas in the past we just were not getting it,” Mr Ellis said.

“I have full confidence that we are going to finally get a proper bite of the cherry, because we’ve been missing that for the last 12 months.

“In the next week or so, I think we’re having big discussions about what our options are and what we need to be looking for, and we’re going to have a plan, Stan.”

Former acting mayor Paul Jacob said housing was one of the priorities raised at a delegation in Canberra weeks before a leadership spill in which he was replaced by Ms Greaney in a special meeting last month.

Originally published as Townsville City Council takes a shot at $bn regional housing pool