Byron Shire Council is exploring options to keep the 58-home temporary housing village at Brunswick Heads operating after the NSW Government’s flood-housing program ends.
Council has opened an Expression of Interest process seeking registered Community Housing Providers interested in leasing and managing the Tweed Street site from July 2027.
But the process is exploratory and does not guarantee the village will remain open.
Any future arrangement would depend on a suitable provider being found, the housing assets being transferred to Council ownership, the necessary planning approvals being secured and a financially sustainable operating model being developed.
The village, at 125 Tweed Street behind the Brunswick Heads sports fields, was established after the 2022 floods and has been operating since early 2023.
It contains 58 dwellings and is currently managed by Uniting NSW ACT.
The NSW Government’s temporary housing program is due to end, leaving uncertainty over the future of a number of pod villages across the Northern Rivers.
The Echo reported in July that residents and housing advocates were concerned about what would happen to the sites once the program wound down.
At that stage, the future of the Brunswick Heads village remained unresolved.
Council’s new EOI is the first concrete step towards testing whether the site could continue to provide housing beyond the end of the state program.
‘The Byron Shire housing crisis is not letting up and our vision is for this site to continue delivering the vital housing our community needs,’ Mayor Sarah Ndiaye said.
The EOI, which opened on September 11, is for a five-year lease of the site from July 1, 2027.
Cr Ndiaye said Council was looking for community housing providers able to develop a viable model for the village.
‘We’re looking for Community Housing Providers who can think outside the box and help us find a financially self-sustaining housing model that is suitable for this Brunswick Heads location,’ she said.
Council says prospective providers must also have a proven track record of delivering quality housing outcomes.
The EOI does not guarantee that all 58 dwellings will remain in their current form, nor does it determine who any future residents would be.
The first stage of the process closes on September 24.
Eligible providers will then be invited to submit detailed proposals by October 26 before Council determines whether a longer-term housing model for the site is viable.
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