Following the 2022 floods councils throughout the Northern Rivers worked with the state government to find locations to place ‘pod villages’ – these were relocateable housing to help support people who were impacted by the floods to get back on their feet.
One of these sites was at Kingscliff where a designated community green space was used to locate the pods with guarantees put in place that at the end of the lease period the site would be returned to the community as green space. Now the Tweed Shire Council (TSC) is asking the community to provide feedback on the future of the site. Should it remain a pod village for temporary housing or should it be returned to the community as promised?
The Kignscliff site is currently leased to the NSW Reconstruction Authority (formerly Resilience NSW) until December 2025, has been used for temporary housing since June 2022. Currently, 30 dwellings are used to house around 55 people.
Mayor of Tweed Shire Chris Cherry said the return of this land to Council late next year presented a unique opportunity for residents across the Tweed who are faced with a shortage of affordable housing.
‘Housing affordability is a growing issue with property prices in the Tweed rising at four times the rate of incomes in the past decade,’ Cr Cherry said.
‘We’ve heard from our community about the increasing challenges they’re experiencing due to the ongoing housing crisis in the Tweed and local businesses and major employers like the new Tweed Valley Hospital are telling us they’re struggling to attract essential workers due to the lack of affordable housing in the area.’
With the pressure on cost of living and the need for housing as a result of the sate government’s long term failure to build affordable and social housing in the region it is not surprise that there is pressure for many of the pod villages to be kept rather than returning green spaces to communities. However, as Peter Newton, President of the Kingscliff Ratepayers and Progress Association (KRPA), points out these pods were design for relocation and communities have the right to their green spaces and they are an important part of good urban design and positive communities in the long run.
‘Our shire and council leads the way in terms of its advocacy and action on green space, it is in our community strategic plan and this proposal this flys against it,’ Mr Newton told The Echo.
Win-win option
‘KRPA has had a consistent position on the future use of that land since day one. We’ve recently had a full, frank, and open discussion on this and have an unambiguous position on where we stand on this matter. That land was committed to be rehabilitated and returned as community space. That is what the commitment is and to try and conflate a grab bag of housing issues with it doesn’t make sense.
‘We believe there is a win-win option here; the pods were designed to be relocated and there are options available for where they can be relocated to for temporary and worker housing, for example at sites like the Tweed Valley Hospital (TVH) site.
‘The hospital footprint design allows for accommodation on the site. Currently they can’t get the funding from the state government to build it, but there is space in the hospital there for the pods and the infrastructure is already there. There are also other sites throughout Tweed, including Murwillumbah, where these pods could be relocated that would put them to effective use for temporary and worker housing.’
What’s your opinion?
Mr Newton said he is concerned about the way the TSC is presenting the narrative around the pods and worker and temporary housing compared to the needs of local communities and their support for flood impacted residents.
‘When the floods happened our community stepped forward and said “how can we help?” We had our members and the local school organising raffles to raise money, bringing boxes of christmas stuff to pod residents yet now there is this narrative that we just want a park and don’t care but that is not the case.’
‘We strongly encourage community members to consider the facts and provide their feedback. Consider how you would react to a community park at the end of your street being used for much needed temporary accommodation at the time flood emergency then being converted to permanent housing despite the many commitments to return the site to community green space?’
Tweed Shire Council said that ‘residents are encouraged to share their thoughts during the community consultation period, which will inform Council’s decision on the best use for the site going forward.’
A report on the results of the consultation will be brought back to Council to guide future planning and development.
The community is invited to have their say on the future use of the site from Monday 4 November until 4 pm on Monday 2 December in one of the following ways:
- Online: complete a short feedback form on Your Say Tweed or via hard copy, available at Council offices in Tweed Heads and Murwillumbah.
- Email: send a written submission to [email protected] Subject: Kingscliff Temporary Housing Village *
- Mail: The General Manager, Tweed Shire Council, PO Box 816, Murwillumbah NSW 2484*
- Pop-up consultations will take place at Murwillumbah, Tweed Heads and Kingscliff in November to provide additional opportunity for questions and feedback.
* Please include your name, address and contact details with your email or mail submission.
For more information and to have your say, visit yoursaytweed.com.au/future-use-of-land.
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