Byron Shire Mayor Sarah Ndiaye says she will move to retain emergency pod housing in Brunswick Heads after residents were recently ordered to vacate by 27 June.
Mayor Ndiaye is calling for the nine pods on Byron Council land in Brunswick Heads to remain in place, and for the 18 pods on Clarence Property land to be relocated on to Council land to provide ongoing emergency housing.
Residents at the Bayside Pod Village received a letter from the NSW Reconstruction Authority in early April stating the site would be decommissioned by 27 June due to the end of funding arrangements with the Australian government.
Mayor Sarah Ndiaye said, ‘These pod villages have been a lifeline for flood affected residents, and with the housing crisis still at breaking point, we can’t afford to lose any publicly owned housing in the Byron Shire.
‘At this week’s council meeting I’ll move that Council advocates to the Reconstruction Authority that we retain the pods. Ideally, the ones currently on Council land at Bayside should be kept there for at least two more years and we can work to relocate the others to appropriate sites within our Shire.
‘We will need assistance to do this, and I expect that given the extent of the housing crisis in this region, the state will do whatever it can to help. These dwellings represent a practical solution to an urgent and immediate need,’ she said.
‘We have a responsibility to our community to explore every possible option. These pods are existing infrastructure and a lot of money was invested in them, so they should continue to serve those in need while we identify longer-term housing solutions.’
Mandy Nolan weighs in
The forthcoming eviction was also condemned by Greens candidate for Richmond, Mandy Nolan, who is calling on government to provide certainty of ongoing funding for the pod villages.
Ms Nolan said, ‘Our region is at the heart of the housing crisis. Serving pod residents an eviction notice with just a few months’ warning and no long-term plan is shameful.
‘There are hundreds of people on the social housing waitlist in Byron Shire. Evicting residents and then telling them to apply for housing we know doesn’t exist is not just unrealistic, it’s distressing,’ she said.
‘These pods are housing members of our community who have nowhere else to go. The federal and state governments needs to step up and ensure ongoing funding and resourcing for all pod villages rather than abandoning these vulnerable residents.’
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