It is recommended that the following requirements are added to the latest draft of the Development Control Plan (DCP) for the former Mullumbimby Hospital site before it gets adopted to ensure that the final development meets the wishes of Council, state government and the local community.
Low cost/affordable accommodation
Enough residential house blocks should be sold to pay for the cost of de-contaminating the site (estimated to be 11 lots). The rest of the site should be set aside for medium-density one- and two-bedroom dwellings, and communal recreational space. In addition, space should be set aside for a general store and space to expand the nursing home to accommodate up to 15 beds for staged care. The remainder of the site should be designed to accommodate, if possible, around 220 medium-density dwellings.
Buildings
All buildings should have solar panels, be thermally insulated, have eaves and patios or balconies. In addition, maximum use should be made of prefabrication and precast panels to minimise cost and construction times. Where garages are provided, they should be located below the accommodation.
Car parking
Each dwelling should have a designated number of spaces varying from none, to two, in a garage or car port.
Public transport
As the town centre is a 15-minute walk from the site, most of the residents would use their cars for shopping and work. At present there is no public transport in Mullumbimby. It is recommended that a mini-bus service is established. This would take pressure off the inadequate parking in the town centre.
Roads
A roundabout at the intersection of Left Bank Road and Coolamon Scenic Drive is required immediately, and a roundabout will be required at the intersection of Left Bank Road and Azalea Street before the hospital site is fully developed.
In addition, the bridge over the creek will require widening to allow an additional lane for traffic approaching the roundabout at Coolamon Scenic Drive from Azalea Street.
It would be hoped that this work would be funded by state government as a contribution to the affordable/low-cost housing that will be provided at the site.
Site contamination
$6 million has been spent on removing asbestos from where the hospital building was located. Advice has been provided that no buildings or services can be built on this part of the site as the contaminated material has only been buried.
This seems surprising, since such a large sum of money has been spent on this work. It is recommended that the soil is tested down to the level where building foundations would be located to see if the master plan will need to avoid buildings being placed in this area.
Suggested rentals and selling prices
It is essential that rents with this development are affordable for those unable to find any accommodation in and around Mullumbimby.
In the Northern Rivers, the rent for accommodation should not exceed one third of the maximum age pension for it to be affordable.
This means that the weekly rent for a significant proportion of the dwellings should be $200 per week.
This would be single-bedroom accommodation and affordable for a single person. Two-bedroom accommodation could be rented out for, say, $300 per week.
Consideration could be given for selling a limited number of the one- and two-bedroom dwellings.
The selling price for these would need to be at the market price, otherwise excessive profits could be made if, and when, they were on-sold. In order to meet the demand for affordable dwellings, it is recommended that the percentage of each type of property should be within the following range:-
Single-bed for rent 30-40 per cent; single-bed for sale 10-15 per cent; double-bed for rent 20-30 per cent; double-bed for sale 10-15 per cent; three-bed for sale 5-10 per cent; building blocks 5-10 per cent.
Suggested project implementation
This project should be fast-tracked owing to the inordinate time taken to advance to the draft DCP stage, and to the high demand for affordable accommodation.
As soon as the DCP is approved, master planning should be started and, prior to its completion, the community should be given the opportunity to view the draft plan.
This should be followed by cost estimates of the buildings and civil works and income from the rentals and the funds from selling the limited number of house blocks.
If there is a short-fall, it should be made by the state or federal government, in recognition of the fact that they caused the contamination of the site following the building of the hospital.
The current price on the land is $6 million, which is equivalent to $27,000 per dwelling. This is a very small price to pay for the land.
If there is found to be a shortfall in funding, state and/or federal government should fund the shortfall, and not adjust the number of dwellings or increase the rents.
In order to keep control over the development and to minimise costs, the development should be undertaken by Council or an arm of state government, and private entity should only be involved in construction through the tendering process.
In summary
The site redevelopment will provide affordable dwellings for a lower cost per dwelling than most other sites owing to the low cost of the land. Thus, this site is highly suitable for affordable housing which is urgently required in Mullumbimby.
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