Ballina councillor Kiri Dicker is calling on the NSW state government and the new Ballina Shire Council keep Wollongbar pod village till the end of its lifespan
‘These pods have a ten year lifespan and have been in place for only two years,’ she told The Echo.
‘We need to be actively working with the state government to explore medium-term options for the Wollongbar Pod Village to act as a stop-gap until the supply of social housing is increased.
Ms Dicker highlighted that it has recently been revealed that the NSW state government is spending $27 million a year in the Northern Rivers alone on housing homeless people in hotels through the Link2Home program.
Cartel of hotels
‘In theory, people should only spend a few days or weeks in this most basic form of emergency accommodation, but due to the shortage of housing in the Northern Rivers, people are spending months or more.
‘I spoke to one case manager recently who described a “cartel”’ of hotel operators benefiting from this scheme and providing sub-standard accommodation for well above market rates. Meanwhile we have an almost empty pod village in Wollongbar that Council want to be returned to its previous state as a disused cricket pitch at the end of the lease period in 2025.
‘Taxpayers have forked out tens of millions of dollars to establish this pod village. Most of that value is in underground and a large amount will never be redeemed. They’ll spend hundreds of thousands of dollars more remediating the site.
‘From a fiscal perspective, it is best to utilise assets to the end of their lifespan,’ she said.
‘To decommission them now would come at a huge cost to taxpayers at the time when we are already paying $27 million a year in the Northern Rivers to house homeless people in hotels under the Link2Home program. The suggestion that they be moved elsewhere is unrealistic, because of the amount of infrastructure required to sustain them, most of which exists under the ground.’
Not a permanent solution
Ms Dicker acknowledged that the pod villages are not a permanent solution or suitable for permanent accommodation.
‘But it’s a medium-term solution for temporary accommodation until the supply of social housing can increase,’ she said.
‘Retaining the pod village in the medium-term makes sense economically and for our community. It could be used to house all manner of people who require temporary accommodation, including women leaving violence, rough sleepers, older women (the fastest growing homeless population) or temporary workers (seasonal workers, events staff etc.)
‘Good management of public funds would see us maintain this village for at least another five years, which would take the pods close to the end of their asset life and provide sufficient time for social housing stock to increase. This would also save the public money by providing a public alternative to hotel accommodation for rough sleepers and others who are homeless.’
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