Mick Brosnan, Social Justice Advocates of the Sapphire Coast, and Kylie Furnell, SEWACS Youth Accommodation Program. Photo: Ian Campbell.
Not-for-profit Social Justice Advocates of the Sapphire Coast (SJASC) and Bega Valley Shire Council have found a pathway for transitional crisis accommodation to be approved.
The legal stoush that has run for more than three years centres on three transitional housing units on land owned and occupied by Bega Uniting Church in Gipps Street, Bega.
The matter was scheduled to be heard in the Land and Environment Court of NSW on 9 December (Tuesday).
Mick Brosnan, convener of SJASC’s Housing and Homeless group, said that on 8 December, the court’s Commissioner Dickson had advised both solicitors to get together and work on a conciliation because she could see potential for the issue to be resolved outside of the court.
“That was after the Commissioner looked at the site, looked at the units and heard from seven very powerful speakers advocating that consent be given for the units,” Mr Brosnan said.
SJASC didn’t seek development consent before installing the units.
In or about December 2022, SJASC submitted a development application (DA) for the units’ future use as crisis accommodation. The application proposed that the crisis accommodation be in place for five years, pending further, more permanent, social housing outcomes for the site.
The DA was approved by the Commissioner with conditions. Photo: Bega Valley Shire Council.
In a press release on 27 September 2024, council said its legal advice obtained earlier that year “supports the position there is no current legal pathway to approve these particular ‘same day granny flats’ in this configuration and installed in this way under the Local Government Act 1993″.
Fourteen months later, a legal pathway has been found.
In a statement on 9 December, council’s Director Community, Environment and Planning, Emily Harrison, said “today’s decision means that the development at the Uniting Church at 125 Gipps Street Bega has been approved as group homes under the Bega Valley Local Environmental Plan (LEP), and the site can continue to be used for transitional accommodation provided by the Social Justice Advocates, with a number of conditions to ensure the safety and habitability of the structures for residents.
“Council’s position has been that there is a DA pathway for the use of the land to achieve the outcome SJASC was looking for, however the structures are not caravans and are required to comply with the requirements of moveable dwellings under the Local Government Regulation or be considered a building under the Building Code of Australia.
“The DA submitted by the Social Justice Advocates originally described the development as residential accommodation comprised of three moveable dwellings (caravans). Council’s position continues to be that the structures are not caravans.
“However, council suggested that the use of the land could be approved as group home (transitional). Through the proceedings, SJASC accepted this and the DA was able to be approved by the Commissioner with conditions.
“The conditions include regular inspections to ensure the structures are safe for the occupants and do not become uninhabitable, particularly focusing on mould, ventilation and structural integrity.
“The conditions imposed in the consent are intended to ensure the structures remain safe for occupants, and that they are replaced, when required, with structures that meet s68 of the Local Government Act,” Ms Harrison said.
Mr Brosnan said some of the conditions were well in hand, others SJASC would have done anyway, and others SJASC had been able to complete for council.
Since June 2021, the community has backed SJASC with more than $500,000 of funding since SJASC launched its ‘It’s Up To Us’ campaign to increase the dignity of the shire’s crisis accommodation.
That has provided eight transitional crisis units, complementing the more than 75 caravans that SJASC has been running as crisis accommodation for more than 12 years. That includes those distributed immediately after the Black Summer bushfires.
“We have 28 caravans which quite unseen support 28 to 40 people every single night so we now can move on and work with council to bring about more crisis accommodation,” Mr Brosnan said. “I am pleased a commonsense and real solution has been reached.”
Ms Harrison said council recognised the need for transitional and low cost rental accommodation, and its primary concern had always been for the safety of the residents.
She encouraged any parties seeking to undertake similar developments to contact council first to determine the appropriate pathway and ensure the required approvals are in place.
Mr Brosnan said, conservatively, 82 per cent of people who had been through those units had gained permanent accommodation. “That is what we are about.”
