Moruya will be the location for 1000 new housing lots. Photo: Transport for NSW.
NSW Government funds totalling $11.5 million will be provided to build the infrastructure needed for 1000 new housing lots in Moruya, with the resulting work expected to help address the housing crisis unfolding in the Eurobodalla.
“This funding will allow up to 1000 new housing lots to come onto the market within three years that might otherwise have taken decades, if at all,” the shire’s mayor Mathew Hatcher said.
“This is great news for our shire in terms of addressing housing shortages and affordability in the medium to longer term.”
By late 2022, nearly half of all rental households in the shire were in rental stress and the cost of buying a home had almost doubled since 2020.
Eurobodalla Shire Council said there had been insufficient social housing stock, affordable rentals or homes to buy and the crisis had been exacerbated by the loss of more than 500 homes during the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires.
Meanwhile, the region’s homelessness crisis is clearly evident at the North Head campground near Moruya, where about 50 people have been living in primitive conditions.
Council welcomed the news of the State Government funding earlier this month, saying it woud be used to build roads, drainage and footpaths to allow the land to be built on within three years.
The land is west of the Princes Highway and south of the Moruya CBD. Some of it is already subdivided and blocks are owned by individuals, while larger areas are owned by multiple developers.
Generally landowners pay for their own enabling infrastructure, but mayor Hatcher said the sheer number of owners made coordinating this near impossible.
Council’s general manager Warwick Winn called the project a “priority” for council and said work on detailed planning and design would start within months, with construction to follow in stages over three years.
“Naturally, hundreds of new homes and families will benefit our business and community life, but we need to make sure traffic is managed and open spaces are part of the mix. All of this will be considered,” he said.
“We’ll also be looking at ways to encourage landowners who benefit from this public money to pass on those savings to buyers, ensuring housing affordability becomes a tangible benefit of this project.”
Council will also upgrade the precinct’s water and sewer systems as part of the project.
Loading ...
