Byron Shire Council could offer full ownership of a public car park in central Mullumbimby to local community housing providers in return for an agreement that affordable housing will be built on the site.
As the Shire continues to struggle with an acute housing crisis, Council will this week decide whether or not to offer the freehold title to its car park at 57 Station Street (located between the Pink Lotus restaurant and the former Hooper’s restaurant) in order to attract an affordable housing developer.
Council has been pursuing the plan for 32 one and two-bedroom housing units on the site since the beginning of 2022.
Initially, the plan involved building the units above the existing car park, but now the proposal is to build the units above ground floor shops. The loss of parking will be offset by two new parking areas.
Late last year, it put the project out to tender, offering the region’s community housing providers a 49-year lease for the site.
But with no housing providers taking up the proposal, Council may have to compromise by offering full ownership of the land in return for an agreement that it will be used for affordable housing in perpetuity.
Secret meetings
A final decision in relation to the site will be made at this Thursday’s full Council meeting, with the matter set to be debated in confidential session, because it involves discussion of commercially sensitive information.
Byron Mayor, Michael Lyon, told The Echo, ‘In order to get community housing providers to invest the required equity, we need to offer them freehold title.’
Cr Lyon said that Council would only hand over ownership of the car park to a housing provider that agreed to retain the site for affordable housing in perpetuity.
The provider would also have to meet certain design standards for the use of the site, and there would be an as yet undisclosed financial benefit that would come back to the Council.
However, if it elects to hand over the freehold title to the land, Council will still have to give up ownership of a piece of public land located in the centre of the town, a move that may be unpopular in some sections of the community.
‘It won’t be just any private ownership, it will be a community housing provider,’ Cr Lyon said, when asked about the decision to give up ownership of public land. ‘They’re not-for-profit organisations, so it will remain in not-for-profit hands’.
‘We don’t do Council housing these days, so this is the modern-day version.’
The decision to conduct the discussion in relation to 57 Station Street behind closed doors at this week’s Council meeting has raised eyebrows among some sections of the community.
Meanwhile, Council has now reached in-principle agreements with the state government to build two new car parks in Mullumbimby to offset the loss of spaces.
The first would be built on vacant rail corridor land opposite the old Tony Carsburg site.
The second would be located on vacant rail corridor land located next to the old Mullumbimby Station. This site had previously been slated for housing, but has subsequently been deemed inappropriate for this purpose.
It is understood that Council will hold leases for each of these sites.
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