Tiny house community to be created in ‘healing setting’
LONDON: A tiny house community is to be created in a bushland setting to enhance well-being and healing.
A new affordable housing project proposed for a fire-damaged south coast town has finally been given the go-ahead after an impassioned plea by the local mayor.
The application by Wollongong-based developer Darren Klowers to build 21 “tiny houses” in central Cobargo was first logged in early 2020, but faced stiff opposition from locals.
Speaking at the Bega Valley Shire council’s ordinary session on April 20, Mayor Russell Fitzpatrick said that while he was sympathetic to concerns about the project, the council needed to address the housing crisis.
“We’ve been working on an affordable housing strategy for seven years, and we finally have a draft project that supports that sort of development,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.
“The community has been telling us how great our affordable housing strategy is, but they don’t want it in their own backyard.
“We can’t have both.”
The ‘Manufactured Housing Estate’ drew considerable community interest when it was first submitted to council in the wake of the devastating Black Summer fires that tore through Cobargo.
At the close of the first notification period, 29 objections, including one petition objecting to the proposal with 191 signatures, were received by the council.
The key concerns raised by residents related to the perceived social and behavioural problems that the development could generate for a community still dealing with trauma, according to council documents.
Issues raised include fears around traffic entering onto the Princes Hwy, potential increased pollution into Narira Creek, impact on the running of live music events at the nearby pub, and the potential loss of character of Cobargo as a low-density village.
A second consultation period was opened in mid-April 2021 and received a further six objections.
Councillor Mitchell Nadin said there was clear angst within the community around the development.
“It is a development that will change the demography of Cobargo for some time to come,” he said.
“Sometimes, as counsellors, we can get caught up in our planning acronyms and our mapping, and we need to remind ourselves that not everyone has the time, nor do they have the interest of going through the process as intimately as we do. And we leave people behind that way.”
Mr Nadin advocated for the motion to be deferred and to go to further community consultation, a proposition that was rejected by Mayor Fitzpatrick.
“I don’t know how much community consultation we can actually have to satisfy everyone,” he said.
“I don’t know how something proposed in 2020 could actually be sprung on someone.
“This has been around for a long time.”
Mr Fitzpatrick said he had failed to get the project before the council multiple times, and that the development had been advertised repeatedly in local newspapers.
He said the developer had voiced willingness to alter the application to suit objections made by locals.
“All that has already been taken place, and I know that people will still be against it tomorrow if we approve it,” he said.
The motion was passed with only two objections.
For the recently re-elected mayor, the project struck a personal cord.
Mr Fitzpatrick said his own mother lived in a similar style project.
“She’s been there for 20 years with an ongoing lease arrangement on the land, and she feels 100 per cent secure in this arrangement,” he said.
“That is exactly what these buildings cater to, people who do have a disability in some way who cannot look after a major block anymore, but want a place that is close to town.”
