‘Smart’ housing solution

Pooling their 2010/11 Royalties for Regions funding, four Kimberley shires have $2.34 million to build a ‘housing factory’ hoped to ease the region’s housing shortage.

The shires of Broome, Derby/West Kimberley, Halls Creek and Wyndham/East Kimberley decided at a meeting last Friday housing was the Kimberley’s biggest issue and this project was the smartest, most sustainable solution.

The plan is for a housing factory to be built, possibly at Kununurra, to provide materials for housing, which could then be built with the cooperation of residents.

It is expected to first provide for remote communities with the biggest need but it is envisaged, after success in its first stages, the factory could continue to improve the landscape of social housing in the Kimberley.

Shire of Wyndham/East Kimberley president, Fred Mills, said it was an exciting project for the zone because it filled two charters – to provide low cost housing, and employment and training for people in the community.

“We’ve talked about building houses with large verandas, outside kitchens and lock up sleeping rooms – to suit people in communities – the housing currently available to Aboriginal communities is different to what they would like, so we need to address this,” he said.

Mr Mills said he believed in the future local governments may have less scope for funding opportunities and may have to look at more sustainable projects and sources of income such as this model. He said local government was not “in the charity business”, and it would be a profitable business, but it was favoured because it could address a number of pressing issues – not only a housing shortage but employment and training for locals and particularly indigenous people.

“It’s exciting for us because it’s a forerunner – if it works, we’ll see more of this sort of thing happen around the State, with other local governments developing businesses like this; also because it’s a move in the direction of sustainability

for local government and communities.”

Broome Shire president Graeme Campbell said the project offered indigenous employment, cheaper housing, and if people from a community participated in building their own housing there may be a better sense of ownership.