Cooktown Platinum Realty principal Julie Hillhouse is asking the State Government to show its hand on its plan for existing staff private rentals once the Garden Street accommodation hub is completed. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
Cooktown real estate agents and public sector employees are calling on the State Government to outline its plan for the new Garden Street accommodation hub amid concerns over a “mass dump” of private rentals.
The government housing project will provide accommodation for “critical frontline staff” and is due for completion in May, however, there is confusion about what the development means for existing private leases the government has in Cooktown.
Cooktown Platinum Realty principal Julie Hillhouse said she had fielded calls from investors about the project and asked the government to make its intentions clear for the sake of market confidence and transparency.
“We haven’t been able to get any information on it, and I need to be able to provide accurate information to my property investors,” she said.
“We were told several years ago that it would have zero impact on any housing in Cooktown, because that was going to provide accommodation for additional staff who were not here yet; that’s what I’ve been telling investors, so, if it’s any different, we need to know, because I need to be relaying accurate information.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Housing and Public Works (DHPW) said the Garden Street project would initially accommodate frontline health staff, but said they could not comment on what other departments would do with existing private rentals.
“Whilst these residences will initially serve as housing for health workers, the demand is constantly changing in the regions, and in future, they may provide housing for many other frontline staff,” the spokesperson said.
“DHPW can’t comment on other State Government departments’ private leasing arrangements for their staff; any private leasing arrangements are a matter for these individual organisations.
“DHPW is hopeful that the delivery of these residences will provide more stock to the regional housing market and remove pressure on the private rental market.”
Ms Hillhouse acknowledged the town needed more rental availability but questioned the suitability of the design and layout of the Garden Street dwellings to attract long-term government staff to Cooktown.
“If it is families going to be in there, how’s that going to affect the retention of staff?” she asked.
“Are staff going to be happy to live there?
“We obviously need more housing, so we’re not complaining about having more housing … but I definitely think we need to know what’s happening with it.”
One Cooktown-based health worker, who asked not to be named, agreed with Ms Hillhouse’s assessment of the suitability of the Garden Street properties for long-term occupation.
“They aren’t buildings I’d like to live in forever with a growing family and pets,” they said.
“We’ve got a good rental at the moment and the lease is expiring, but we’ve had no information from work about what they’re planning – are they expecting some of us to move into there (Garden Street) or are we getting renewed leases?
“Someone needs to let staff in private rentals know what’s happening, because there’s talk of a mass dump of properties to move most of us to the new ones.”
Cook Shire Council chief executive officer Brian Joiner said the government had not provided any indication it intended to do a bulk drop of private rentals back onto the market.
“With the construction of the hospital over the next four years, there’s going to be up to 60 contractors coming in, so there’s going to be a strong accommodation requirement for those people, therefore, there’s no indication there’s going to be a mass dump of existing private leases,” he said.
“We believe that the rental demand in town is so high that any private leases that do come back on the market will be snapped up by other government departments and private tenants.”
The Garden Street government housing project is due for completion in May, however, some local health staff have questioned the suitability of the design and layout of the accommodation hub for long-term tenants. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
