The Whitsunday housing crisis is set to be tackled by local council who have come up with sweeping reforms to ease the issue crippling the region.
Working both alongside Whitsunday Neighbourhood Centre and Bowen Neighbourhood Centre, Whitsunday Regional Council have adopted a consultation plan to determine what measures will have the best results.
According to council documents submitted at the July 13 Ordinary Meeting – a Housing Affordability Literature Review - the Whitsunday region is well above the statewide rate of 45.6 persons per 10,000 homeless, with a rate of “59 per 10,000”.
Director Development Services, Neil McGaffin, said the crisis was nationwide.
“As everybody should be aware, there is a housing affordability squeeze everywhere in the country,” he said.
“Alongside Neighbourhood Centre’s in the Whitsundays, we have come up with some potential solutions that could ease that.”
Councillor Jan Clifford said that, even within the council, they’ve been struggling with staff shortages due to the housing availability.
“The housing crisis is endemic across the entire nation. There is nowhere for anyone to live; it’s a crisis and it’s getting worse and worse every day,” she said.
Releasing their Housing Affordability Community Engagement Plan, council suggest seven potential changes for public consideration.
These include potential changes to the planning scheme, such as granny flat floor sizes and dual occupancy on measured lots, as well as revising minimum lot sizes.
“Council wants to know if there is anything the community is disliking about the planning scheme in relation to housing and the development of housing,” the document states.
Council will seek community feedback through email, Facebook, and other social media as well as in local newspapers.
Whitsunday Neighbourhood Centre have previously said that the crisis has seen families living in caravan parks, cars, and in tents.
Councillor Clifford echoed those sentiments.
“I have families living in my division who have been sleeping in cars and there has to be something we can do,” she said.
“This is a step in the right direction for that.”
