Ballina Council have removed any doubt that the development of housing on land it owns in Wollongbar is for the benefit of ‘key workers’.
In April 2022 Council resolved to sell 18 of the 30 lots it owned in the Wollongbar Urban Expansion Area, and further explore the feasibility of developing and retaining for leasing all or part of the 12 remaining lots ‘for the purposes of providing affordable housing for essential workers in accordance with State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) 2021’. This led to the commissioning of a feasibility study and an expression of interest process with prospective tenders who could design and construct the housing, with the Council maintaining ownership.
When councillors were asked to approve the signing of a contract with the selected tenderer, The Kollective, and proceed with the first stage of the construction of the rental housing a last minute notice of motion (NoM) saw the removal of ‘key workers’ as a description of the project.
‘Council’s decision to remove all reference to “key workers” from the housing development amounts to a betrayal of essential workers and small businesses who are suffering because of the housing crisis,’ said Greens Councillor, Kiri Dicker.
Financial forecasts presented to Councillors in the February Commercial Services Committee estimated that Stage 1 of the project could earn Council $11,118,000 in rental income over a 20-year period.
According to Ms Dicker references to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) had disappeared from the recommendation and during the debate Mayor Cadwallader asserted that this project would not be social or affordable housing and would in fact be rented to the public at market rate.
‘For the past two years Council has worked towards the provision of affordable housing for essential workers in Wollongbar, to watch Councillors change the goalposts at the last minute was completely heartbreaking,’ said Ms Dicker.
‘For the past two years, Council has worked towards the provision of affordable housing for essential workers in Wollongbar, to watch Councillors change the goalposts at the last minute was completely heartbreaking.’
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