Geraldton Housing Development Forum – Laying the Foundations

The Mid West Development Commission held the Geraldton Housing Development Forum on 12 June 2023.

The intent of the Forum was to start what will be an ongoing discussion with builders, developers and industry in an effort to improve ongoing and future efforts to address worker housing shortages. 

The Forum also aimed to:

• Provide information to the sector on the Department of Planning Lands and Heritage $40m Infrastructure Development Fund; 

• Provide information on public and private sector projects which will drive further need for worker housing in Geraldton and the broader Mid West; 

• Share data relating to the Geraldton housing market, and broader local market opportunities, with prospective developers and industry stakeholders; 

• Hear from industry; and 

• Build and nurture relationships with developers, landowners and the construction industry for future worker housing projects across the Mid West. 

The Forum included presentations and facilitated workshops providing an opportunity to start discussions about improving the capacity of the local housing market to respond to the needs of current and future workforce. Two facilitated discussion sessions were held with attendees to work through identifying critical challenges and key solution opportunities.

Information collated from workshop discussions at the Forum have identified the need for the formation of a Worker Housing Action Group and the development of a Geraldton Housing Action Plan. Work will commence on identifying interested stakeholders interested in providing input and further feedback for the initiatives.

Resources

Housing Development Forum program

Housing Development Forum workshop outcomes

Presentation: Hon Don Punch MLA, Minister for Regional Development

Presentation: Nils Hay, CEO of Mid West Development Commission