Service workers recognised in 100-unit worker’s village for Karratha, Grylls.
Author: Brendon Grylls
Published on: 27-November-2009
The critical need for employee accommodation at Karratha’s retail, hospitality, tourism and general service sectors has been recognised by the State Government.
Lands Minister Brendon Grylls today announced funding approval for the construction of a village dedicated to providing more affordable rental accommodation to service workers.
The Minister said a new village site located adjacent to the town centre would provide approximately 100 accommodation units to house up to 250 people.
Mr Grylls said he had been working to find a solution to the huge challenge of providing more affordable housing for services employees in Karratha.
“We are working with local authorities and other areas of Government to revitalise the town of Karratha but we needed to find an interim solution to the current high rental costs of between $900 to $1,400 per week for a three-bedroom home and upwards of $1,500 for a four-bedroom home,” he said “Rents like this make it difficult for non-resource sector employees and small businesses to be able to afford to live and operate in Karratha."
“The resources sector may be the driver of Australia’s economy, but without services for the community such as shops, restaurants and cafes, resources-sector towns are one dimensional."
“Our goal for the Pilbara is to create thriving regional towns that are highly desirable places to live to attract and retain new residents."
“Resource companies already have initiatives in place to assist their employees with the cost of accommodation."
“For Government employees, including teachers and nurses, there is subsidised housing. This new initiative for private sector service workers, which aims to achieve rents in the range of $350 to $450 for one, two and three-bedroom modular units, will be the first of its kind in Western Australia.”
An Expression of Interest for private sector involvement in the construction of the 100 service worker units was held earlier this year.
The submission by National Lifestyle Villages had the added benefit of not requiring the full size of the site for the construction of the village, meaning 1.3ha of land could now be developed by LandCorp as a mixed-use site as part of the town centre revitalisation program.
A total of $30.4million would be allocated from the Royalties for Regions Pilbara Revitalisation Plan for the construction of the village, which is expected to see the first units becoming available by mid-2010, with final completion by early to mid-2011.
Media contact: Chris Morris - 0488 904 791
