An affordable housing project adjacent to Baldwin Swamp has been deemed infeasible with the results potentially laying the groundwork to see 26 hectares of urban residential land dedicated as environmental reserve.
On-site investigations for an affordable housing development have been underway on the land in recent weeks.
The parcel of land, which is not currently part of Baldwin Swamp, is bounded by Telegraph Road, the Ring Road, FE Walker Street and Mellifont Street.
It was already known that not all parts of the significant parcel of land were capable of being developed and Mayor Helen Blackburn said geotechnical and environmental investigations had now confirmed development of this affordable housing project was impractical.
“Regional Housing and Council have been working together to investigate the feasibility of an affordable housing project in this location and we now have the confirmation that it won’t be possible at this location,” Mayor Blackburn said.
“Due to the quality of the land the civil infrastructure costs would be too high, and the lot numbers would be overly restricted, that achieving the main outcome – which was to deliver the homes as affordably as possible – will not work on this site.
“These investigations and tests are all part of the due diligence requirements which have taken place before any significant investment by Council and our project partner organisation Regional Housing in master planning.
“While this means this particular project at this location will not progress our region remains in desperate need of an increase in affordable housing and we remain committed to finding a suitable location and not-for-profit project partners including Regional Housing who can fast track their delivery.”
Mayor Blackburn acknowledged that this news would be welcomed by some members of the community who had expressed concerns about the environmental value of the land.
“We know that Baldwin Swamp is a special and environmentally important space in the heart of our city and we work year-round to protect, preserve and enhance it,” she said.
“It has always been Council’s intention that, across the 26 hectares of this parcel of land, any areas that were not identified through the master planning process as necessary for the affordable housing project would become part of Baldwin Swamp, resulting in an extension of this valued space.
“With the formal testing confirming that the affordable housing project is not feasible we can now look at what options Council has to lock up this land as environmental reserve in its entirety for residents to enjoy into the future.
“We will commence the necessary process as soon as possible and keep the community informed as we progress this.”
Mayor Blackburn also confirmed that the earlier Council decision in relation to the project was a formality to ratify the partnership between Council and affordable housing provider Regional Housing Limited to undertake master planning.
“No transfer of ownership for this land had yet taken place.
“The due diligence process was the first step and we can see now from this outcome the benefits of structuring the process this way.
“Regional Housing has collaborated with us every step of the way and undertaken a thorough review process before reaching this decision and we thank them for their interest in working with us to achieve improvements in housing availability and affordability for our community.”
Regional Housing Business Development Manager (Special Projects), Kris Robinson, confirmed that as a conscientious ‘for purpose’ developer, Regional Housing had finalised its due diligence process to assess the feasibility of the proposed ‘Gympie Estate’ affordable housing project.
“This process included the commissioning and review of multiple reports by qualitied external consultants who completed comprehensive assessments relating to infrastructure, geotechnical, bushfire and environmental factors,” Mr Robinson said.
“Whilst the reports did not identify any single reason preventing the development from proceeding, the Directors of Regional Housing have resolved not to continue with the project due to estimated costs exceeding our pre-determined thresholds for housing development.
“Regional Housing extends our gratitude to Bundaberg Regional Council for their generosity and the trust placed in us to deliver affordable homes for our community.
“With so many regional households still struggling to find or afford suitable accommodation, the development of more affordable housing remains one of our highest priorities.
“This opportunity has provided valuable insight that will help shape our future efforts, bringing us closer to our vision that ‘every person has a home’.”
If it’s just to expensive for a affordable project how about offering it as for more expensive homes to private customers? Building more expensive homes also frees up cheaper existing homes.
How about the bigger piece of land on the other side of the ring road Between the ring road, Telegraph road, Ash field road & Fe Walker Street. It might be more suitable for affordable accommodation options. There’s lots of land we could try it’s just finding the right fit for the budget.
Theres heaps of land left else were as well…
Maybe a more tactical approach is needed. For instance this land could be used for multi story apartments for singles or 2 people house holds to remove them from 3 or more bed room homes. Apartments are smaller meaning you would get more use out of the land & infrastructure.
There’s new $2 billion funding from the state government for housing infrastructure round one has finished but round 2 has not yet commenced we could take advantage of this to help pay for in-fracture.
https://www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/infrastructure/projects-and-programs/residential-activation-fund
Just remember, the word “Affordable” in Housing don’t exist anymore…!!
Homeless tsunami will roll in badly to Bundaberg in 2026-27 as greed cant be stopped
with people infected monkey brain to have more that they can handle.
Homelessness has changed people to the so said “Affordability of day to day living standards”.
It’s a sad situation which adds to a lot of problems in the near future, that for sure.
What we need is 3 story apartment buildings. Each floor has 2-4 apartments. 1 shared laundry per a building. 4 buildings share a large common court yard with several cloths lines. In theory hundreds of apartments could be put in a single area this size. Common design to save on costs.
Maybe it could be used for farming and we could use old farming land in another spot in exchange? You were going to gift it anyway right? This would leave the space as green while allowing it to contribute to the economy.
Maybe it could be turned in a tourist attraction plant some trees that bloom colorfully to add to the mix of natives we already planted. Maybe some Jacarandas or Wattles or even Cherry tree? We could have our own New Farm Park