Byron Council has formally partnered with Homes NSW in a bid to accelerate social and affordable housing projects across the Shire, with the former Mullumbimby Hospital site identified as a key priority.
Councillors unanimously endorsed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Council and Homes NSW at last week’s meeting, establishing a framework for collaboration on housing projects and redevelopment opportunities across Byron Shire.
The agreement identifies two initial priority areas: the former Mullumbimby Hospital site and the renewal of existing Homes NSW housing sites across the Shire, including sites near town centres such as Byron Bay.
Speaking in support of the proposal, Mayor Sarah Ndiaye said the partnership reflected the scale of the housing crisis facing the region.
‘At the moment we have 245 people counted sleeping rough. We have a declared housing crisis. We’re second only to the City of Sydney in a community a fraction of that size,’ she said.
‘There’s nothing abstract about a housing crisis. These are our neighbours and people that we know in housing stress, students that have had to move house multiple times, people that feel they have to go back to violent relationships because they don’t have anywhere else to go.’
Ms Ndiaye said Byron’s rental vacancy rate remained below one per cent while social housing accounted for just 1.8 per cent of local housing stock.
She said Council was already spending around $700,000 each year on homelessness-related services.
‘We can’t fix this alone,’ she said.
‘I’ve always felt that this is the role of the state to deliver housing, and we have the opportunity here to partner with them, not just on this project, but on many projects.’
The mayor said she had recently met with Homes NSW chief executive Rebecca Pinkstone and described the discussions as productive.
While acknowledging that some community members had advocated for the former hospital site to become entirely social housing, Ms Ndiaye suggested a more mixed outcome was likely.
‘The idea that we’ll get 100 per cent social housing I also don’t think is a realistic outcome, but wow, we can get something really amazing on that site and on the other sites if we work together and keep focused on delivering on that goal,’ she said.
Greens councillor Elia Hauge welcomed the agreement but noted it had taken time to reach this point.
‘The provision of public and social housing is the state’s responsibility. It’s not ours, although we are increasingly taking on that responsibility as they have not within our Shire, and this MoU is a step in the right direction to redistributing that load,’ Cr Hauge said.
The MoU states that Council and Homes NSW will work together to identify and progress housing projects, support urban renewal and increase social housing supply. However, the document is not legally binding and does not commit either party to specific developments or funding arrangements.
The agreement comes as Council and Homes NSW continue discussions about the future of the former Mullumbimby Hospital site, with community interest remaining high over how the strategically located land will ultimately be redeveloped.
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