Council buys land for $1, but what's the catch?

The vacant block of land is just south of Geraldton's CBD. (ABC News: Chris Lewis) The state government will transfer 8.8 hectares of vacant land to the City of Greater Geraldton for $1 to develop 140 key worker dwellings. WA shadow local government minister Kirrilee Warr says issues such as housing, typically concerns of the state, are falling on councils. The City of Greater Geraldton council will meet to discuss the next steps for the housing development project. Link copiedShareShare articleLocal government's traditional responsibilities of road, rates and rubbish have changed, but it has resulted in shires becoming "dumping ground" for state government issues, according to one MP. It comes after WA Housing Minister John Carey announced the transfer of 8.8 hectares of reserve land to the City of Greater Geraldton for $1, to be developed into 140 dwellings for key workers. Before the offer of the sale, the state government had already provided $8.7 million for headworks on the land, but the city will have to make up $2.3 million to finish the work. Once the vacant block is transferred, the City of Greater Geraldton will lead the development to create a housing village for essential workers, such as hospital staff. But Mayor Jerry Clune said councillors had not been able to iron out the project's finer details yet. Jerry Clune says the state government announcement to sell land to the council for $1 came as "a surprise". (ABC News: Piper Duffy) "This announcement [on Tuesday] came as quite a surprise for the city," he said. "It's early days and a lot of this will have to come back to council to work out which direction and what appetite council has for developing this land." Mr Clune said that although housing was typically a state government concern, local councils had been evolving to meet their community's demands. The vacant block is littered with African Boxthorn, a dense and thorny bush difficult to destroy. (ABC News: Chris Lewis) "And we're in difficult times when it comes to housing, so any opportunity that we can use our resources to extend towards the city … it's for the benefit of the whole community." Other regional shires across WA are also capitalising on the housing market to meet population demand. In the Wheatbelt, the Shire of Dowerin has been exploring opportunities to boost local housing supply to support workforce attraction and retention. A recent council agenda said the council sought budget pricing to understand how much a four-by-two dwelling would cost to build and subsequently be rented back to the state government through its Government Regional Officer Housing program. Further south, the Shire of Waroona is considering a similar step into housing development. On Tuesday night, the council voted to subdivide a block of council-owned land to create eight new housing lots. It is considering whether it will sell the lots to a private developer or build and rent homes itself using ratepayer money. Other councils have become involved in housing development to meet demand in their communities. (ABC News: Chris Lewis) Mr Carey acknowledged that providing housing was traditionally the responsibility of the state, but said in a statement that collaboration was needed to address shortages. "All tiers of government across the country are working together to bolster housing supply," he said. But the Member for Geraldton and Shadow Local Government Minister, Kirrilee Warr, said costs were shifting more frequently onto councils in the absence of higher-level assistance. Kirrilee Warr says councils across the state have had to evolve their responsibilities. (ABC News: Courtney Withers) "Kudos to the City of Greater Geraldton for taking [the development] on because [housing] has been an issue in our city for some time around workers' accommodation. "But the question should be: why are local governments falling into these areas that traditionally haven't been [their] roles, such as housing, child care and GPs?" Ms Warr said the $1 land sale and partial headworks funding showed "some willingness" from the state government, but it still fell short. "It will be great for Geraldton, [the new housing] will have some great benefits, there's no doubt about that," she said. "But [housing is an example of] things that local governments have been stepping into because no-one else is doing it for them, and local people are in desperate need of those services." Copy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)PromotionTop StoriesBetting on war is not an option in Australia. Prediction markets could change thatTopic:Gambling

Council buys land for $1, but what's the catch?

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