Thursday, August 30, 2012

Action to end housing crisis

Joint Statement:
Premier
The Honourable Campbell NewmanDeputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning
The Honourable Jeff Seeney

Monday, August 06, 2012
Action to end housing crisis
The Newman Government today announced decisive action to end the housing crisis in the state’s mining towns.

It will fast track land releases for housing development freeing up land held by the Urban Land Development Authority (ULDA).

Premier Campbell Newman said today there would be no more fiddling around the edges of the problem as Labor had done.

“We want real impact and we want it fast,” Mr Newman said.

Initial action will accelerate delivery of more than a thousand land allotments in Moranbah and Blackwater.

But the process will quickly expand to other central Queensland towns, Mackay, the Darling Downs, Burnett and Central Queensland coasts, Cairns and Mt Isa.

The Premier said the Government had set a new direction for the ULDA, which was being merged into Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney’s Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning.

“Under the previous government, the ULDA’s activity was focussed on delivering housing at the low end of the market and was limited to small releases at a time,” Mr Newman said.

“This will be totally turned around, where appropriate. Land held in Urban Development Areas by the ULDA will be released to the market for housing development.

“There has been obvious market failure in towns like Moranbah and Blackwater where there is an inadequate supply of land and therefore of affordable housing.

Our action now will change that in the shortest possible time.

“The greatest impact on the affordability of housing the Government can have is to increase land supply to the general market and deliver more lots, more quickly.”

Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said his department would spend $15 million over the next nine months to deliver 185 housing allotments in Moranbah and Blackwater.

“That land will be available by next March,” Mr Seeney said.

“I have also tasked the ULDA transition team to work closely with Isaac Regional Council to assist it in the early delivery of its Belyando Estate which will deliver 1000 lots to the market.

“Secondly, I have tasked my department and ULDA team to collaborate with Western Downs and Maranoa Regional Councils and the Gladstone Regional Council to identify projects that they can accelerate to deliver housing more quickly in the Surat Basin and Gladstone respectively.

“The Government will work with the private sector to meet land supply demand in some communities to ease the rental pressures currently being faced.”

The Premier said the Government was also conscious that there were other issues being experienced in regional and resource centres which were impacting on the delivery of housing.

“We will work with local councils to identify roadblocks which are preventing housing outcomes as well as opportunities or actions that can deliver early ‘on the ground outcomes’ in key specific towns,” Mr Newman said.

This may involve identifying ‘lazy’ government land which could be utilised to increase housing supply.

The initiative will include a series of workshops in 11 regional centres across Queensland which will provide the team with the chance to talk to people on the ground that are involved in the delivery of housing who know the issues and also the potential opportunities.

These workshops, to be held in the coming weeks, will inform the preparation of a Resource and Regional Town Action Plan for government consideration by December 2012.

Workshops are being held mostly throughout September with the first workshop in Dalby on 29 August. They will be held in the following locations:

• Dalby (including Chinchilla, Wandoan, Miles)
• Roma (including Injune)
• Toowoomba
• Bundaberg
• Gladstone

• Emerald (including Blackwater)
• Rockhampton
• Moranbah (including Clermont, Middlemount and Dysart)
• Mackay
• Mt Isa
• Cairns

[ENDS] 6 August 2012

Media Contact:

Premier’s Office – 3224 4500
Deputy Premier’s Office – 3224 4600

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