The Surf Coast Shire will look to address the shortage of affordable housing in the region after councillors adopted an Affordable Accommodation Action Plan at last week’s council meeting.
The plan, which is a new stream of work for the shire, sets out a 12-month program of work to support the rollout of the state government’s Big Housing Build on the Surf Coast and address the key worker accommodation crisis, which the council declared last May.
In a report presented at the meeting, the shire said it was “increasingly fielding requests for assistance, receiving proposals for new initiatives, being asked to participate in regional programs of work and having to respond to new government policies” in relation to affordable housing.
The plan, funded by a one year investment by shire, attempts to organise the new area of work into priority actions thereby providing clarity on the things it is able to do.
Councillor Gary Allen said the plan came at a time when communities and governments at all levels were increasing their focusing on the issue.
“Affordable accommodation is almost impossible to come by in our shire and we hear all kinds of heartbreaking stories of those missing out,” Cr Allen said
“It’s a very real problem for workers and employees, our ageing community members and those who have sudden and unexpected life events that rob them of a home.
“But with such a complex problem that’s decades in the making, we’ve got to be very deliberate about where we put our energies and this plan tries to give us a clearer focus.”
Consultation with the Surf Coast communities in 2021 led to the council making a commitment to try improving access to affordable residential accommodation in its four year Council Plan.
The action plan will work with the council’s Social Housing Policy to help guide the organisation as it works with Homes Victoria to ensure the state government’s $20 million Big Housing Build spend in the shire addresses local needs.
Council will explore how its land at 2 Fraser Drive, Aireys Inlet, long earmarked for affordable housing, can provide housing options for people struggling to find places to live in the area.
The plan also flags the investigation of Tiny Houses, key worker projects and initiatives such as Lorne’s ‘Adopt a Worker’ program as innovative ways to address a difficult problem.
Cr Allen said the Affordable Accommodation Action Plan would harness council’s existing capabilities and also seek to build on future funding and partnership opportunities.
“No one group or organisation can fix this problem and so we call on local communities, land owners, landlords, governments and developers to share their bright ideas with one another and importantly to take action,” Cr Allen said.
However the plan was opposed by two councillors, Paul Barker and Heather Wellington, who said housing policy shouldn’t become a local government matter.
