Housing Pressures on Thursday Kieran Ryan Reel Planning Pty Ltd

Introduction

For the past four years Reel Planning has been assisting Torres Shire Council with its development assessment functions as well as supporting studies to underpin the review of the Planning Scheme for the shire. A key study is a review of the residential, industrial and recreational land supply. This work has revealed the significant housing pressure being experienced on .

This paper seeks to identify some of the history, context and features of one of ’s most remote communities. It goes on to explain how these have led to the current level of housing pressure and describes some planning initiatives currently underway to assist in relieving this pressure.

Location & History

Torres Shire is the northernmost local government area in . The Shire is characterised by its rich history of fishing, mother of pearl and trochus shell industries, and has a strong connection to the Asian and Pacific Island traders. The area extends from the northernmost part of , together with many of the and shares an international border with Papua . Thursday Island is the most populous island in the Shire and is also the administrative, business and health service centre of the Region.

The local government area of Torres Shire is co-located with the Torres Strait Island Regional Council area, which includes the remaining islands in the Torres Strait. The Torres Strait Island Regional Council is administered from but has an office on Thursday Island.

It is also relevant to note that the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) is an Australian Government body established to provide programs and represent the interests of Torres Strait Island and Aboriginal people living in the Torres Strait. Established in 1994, the primary role of the TSRA is to strengthen the economic, social and cultural development of the Torres Strait community.

Torres Shire was first established and gazetted in May 1974 by the Bjelke-Petersen government however it was not until March 1991 that the Torres Shire Council was restored to elected Council status. The Shire is now administered by a mainstream local authority comprising a Mayor (since 1994) and four Councillors. The Shire includes (but not limited to) the following major islands:  Thursday Island – Waiben;  Horn Island – Ngurupai;  Prince of Wales Island – Muralag;  Friday Island – Gealug;  Goods Island – Palilug; and  Wednesday Island – Mawai.

Horn Island is the transport and infrastructure hub for the Torres Strait with the airport, barge landing and storage facility, a quarry, water supply dam for Thursday, Horn and Hammond Islands and waste disposal facility for the Shire located on the island. It is situated close to Thursday Island and the two are linked by regular ferry and irregular barge services. Other larger islands of the archipelago include Prince of Wales Island, Friday Island, Wednesday Island and Goods Island.

Torres Shire is co-located with the Torres Strait Island Regional Council area, which includes a number of the inhabited islands of the Torres Strait.

Although small in size at 3.5 square kilometres, Thursday Island is the administrative, health service and commercial centre of the Shire and is also the most populous with 2,960 persons recorded in June 2016.

The business centre on Thursday Island is concentrated on Douglas Street and includes hotels, a motel, takeaway food, chemist, newsagent, grocery store, hardware store, bank, post office and bakery. Council Chambers are located on Douglas Street along with Queensland Public Health Centre and Dental Clinic, Police Station and Court House.

Other government infrastructure located on Thursday Island includes Immigration, Customs, Foreign Affairs and Trade, Fire and Rescue Services, Queensland Ambulance and the Federal Police. A joint Defence Force Base is located at Hocking Point. Thursday Island also includes a General Hospital located at the western end of Douglas Street.

Key Statistics

The following section is intended to give a snapshot of the demographic and housing supply/demand in order to quantify the housing pressure.

Thursday Island Torres Shire Estimated Residential Population (2016) 2938 3610 Dwellings 855 1163 Persons Per Household 3.44 3.10

 It is noted that typical persons per household across the State is 2.6, substantially lower than Thursday Island or Torres Shire.

 Estimated population growth of 0.62% per annum across the shire, with estimated distribution accounting for an additional 214 persons on Thursday Island by 2036, to be accommodated in an additional 124 dwellings.

 As at 2016 a staggering 77% of homes were rented compared with the Queensland average of 34%. Only 9.5% of dwellings were owned (either with or without a mortgage), compared with the Queensland average of 62%.

 There are almost twice as many group households on Thursday Island compared to the Queensland average.

 The median rent for Torres Shire is less than half the Queensland average, however this is artificially lowered due to contract conditions applying to many (mainly non indigenous) households. In other words, persons employed in the government sector are understood to have rent/living expenses covered as part of their contract.

 20% of households do not have a vehicle (higher than the Queensland Average of 6%) – highlighting the high costs of owning a vehicle on both Horn and Thursday Island, the walkability of these places and the lack of road infrastructure on the outer islands

 As at 2011, 43% of all jobs were in the government sector including 22% in health care and social assistance and 21% in public administration and safety (noting that this accounts for only the resident workforce). Despite fishing and seafood related industry being an integral part of life in Torres Shire, jobs in this sector account for only about 5%.

 There are almost 400 more jobs in the region than there are employed residents – highlighting the significant number of transient workers. Of those, almost half are in the government sector, with other significant numbers being employed in accommodation/food (e.g. commonly backpackers working in hotels), construction (e.g. trades persons working on building/infrastructure projects) and transport (e.g. air/sea transport workers).

 25 building approvals for detached dwellings (houses) in the 10 years since 2006 – although 14 of those are since 2014. By comparison 121 attached dwellings (units/townhouses) have been approved in the same time.

 The median price of detached dwellings over the past 10 years is approximately 15% higher than Cairns and the median price of attached dwellings is consistently higher than Cairns (over 50% higher in some years).

Interpreting the statistics

The previous section informs us that;  The majority of the population of the shire lives on Thursday Island  The majority of new housing is for attached dwelling (with almost 5 times as many building approvals for attached dwellings than detached dwellings over the past 10 years)  The majority of housing is rented and a high proportion of the rent appears to subsidised for non-indigenous households  Over 40% of the workforce is employed in the government sector and there are almost 400 more jobs than employed residents, highlighting the high proportion of transient workforce.

Many of the above Statistics are interlinked and are indicators of a range of common socio- economic issues and challenges for the community, including accessibility, whether housing type is responding to need and the costs associated with housing employees for private sector business interests (and government).

The high proportion of government employees, evidence of rent subsidy and proportion of transient workforce suggests that housing is owned by the government and provided to its workforce who are often not permanent residents. This limits the supply of available housing to the wider community, contributes to the high cost of that housing and creates a challenge in housing supply in circumstances where there is such a high number of persons per household.

The demand for housing has no doubt impacted on the cost and therefore accessibility for local residents. It could reasonably be interpreted that this has also resulted in the high number of dwellings containing multiple households (accepting that there might be cultural factors at play here).

Current and Future Demand

A recent Residential, Industrial and Recreational Land Supply Study undertaken by Reel Planning and Norling Consulting on behalf of Torres Shire Council determined that approximately 200 additional dwellings are required on Thursday Island in order to satisfy the demand over the 20 year period to 2036. It also estimates that an additional 200 dwellings are currently required in order to bring the persons per household down to a more typical 2.6 (from 3.42) and reduce the number of dwellings containing multiple households or group households.

It was further estimated that there was currently 27 vacant allotments in the residential zone on Thursday Island, providing a total of 22.4 hectares of available land. Having regard to site constraints it was estimated that there was potential for 200 dwellings to be constructed in this area, representing approximately half the total demand (existing and future) over the next 20 years. It is noted that the same report estimated that there was potential for an additional 200 dwellings on Horn Island having regard to the existing vacant residential land which will exceed existing and future demand based on historic trends.

Planning Initiatives

Small urban areas elsewhere in the State have (in recent years) experienced significant housing pressures, often as a result of a substantial influx of residents/workers usually as a result of resource projects (e.g. coal & gas). The response to such (often temporary) influxes has often been to facilitate new housing development at the edge of existing urban areas in combination with an increase of temporary accommodation options (e.g. hotels/motels, caravan parks and workers accommodation camps). There is no intention to explore the positives or negatives of this approach as part of this paper, only to observe that housing pressure often appears to have been relieved through a drop in the construction workforce associated with the resource projects before a meaningful appreciation can be ascertained as to the success (or otherwise) of the housing response.

Despite Thursday Island being a relatively small physical area, there are some uncommon features which prevent a conventional approach to resolving housing pressures. These include:  Limited availability of land generally;  The high proportion of reserve land which restricts the available land supply;  High cost of construction as a result of geographic isolation; and  High cost of vehicle transport between the islands.

It is suggested that the approach to housing pressure on Thursday Island should be similar to that taken in a larger urban centre. For example, the encouragement of infill and higher density development in existing residential areas as well as smaller lots in greenfield environments are two outcomes commonly pursued in large cities. In such cases this approach is typically pursued to avoid urban sprawl, whereas on Thursday Island it needs to be undertaken because sprawl is simply not an option.

New development is ultimately market driven unless State or Local government has the necessary funding, capacity and propensity to undertake its own development to sell/rent to the public. It’s nevertheless possible for Council and Town Planners to assist in resolving this issue. The aforementioned Residential and Industrial Land Use study that was commissioned by Council is an obvious first step in identifying the extent of housing pressure and whether the existing zoned land is suitable to accommodate the necessary growth. The next step is to look for opportunities to amend zoning and planning scheme provisions through an amendment (or through the drafting of a new planning scheme) to encourage residential growth at appropriate densities. This can include (for example):  rezoning non-residential land for residential purposes;  identifying higher density residential development as being appropriate in the existing residential zones (to the extent that it is not already);  increasing the maximum allowable density in residential zones (or relaxation of other design requirements that have the potential to stifle density (e.g. car parking rates);  Distribution of information to the public regarding the development potential in various zones; and  Distribution of information to the public about potential housing loans and opportunities to fund development.

In relation to the relaxation of design requirements, it is considered that a substantial relaxation of car parking is entirely appropriate on Thursday Island in circumstances where: a) The cost of bringing vehicles to the island is prohibitive to ownership which likely explains (in part) the comparatively low rates of vehicle ownership; b) The island is of a size where walking is a legitimate alternative to vehicle ownership; c) Travel by personal boat (dingy) to Thursday Island from the nearby islands is relatively common; and d) Wide road reserves are commonplace, providing opportunities for on-street parking.

In relation to public information, it has been the author’s experience that Thursday Island is one of the few places in the State where Council is actively encouraging land owners to develop higher density products, often when an enquiry or application is received for a house.

Where seeking to encourage a particular type of development, Councils have in the past, offered infrastructure subsidies to reduce the overall development cost. A recent example of this is City Council offering subsidies for new aged care & retirement development. Torres Shire Council is not in a financial position to offer such incentives due to the small rate base, lack of government funding and high proportion of government housing. This is explored further in the following section.

Predictably, there are also a range of restrictions on development which are common to most urban areas. The unique topography of the islands which means that the centre of the island is generally very steep and, in many cases, difficult to develop. For that reason, a majority of the industry and housing is along the coastline which makes protecting their assets or finding alternative locations, a very challenging prospect.

Notwithstanding the above, the coastline is at risk of inundation in parts due to sea level rise and to date, the implications of this has been poorly understood and integrated into land use planning. In response to this challenge, TSC will use the coastal hazard mapping as the basis of the overlay maps for their new planning scheme which in turn will identify appropriate land for different types of development. Given the importance of the sea to the people and everyday life in Torres Shire, and the challenges of topography and limited developable land, the new planning scheme and the coastal hazard mapping is going to be instrumental in shaping the future settlement pattern of the islands. More importantly, by incorporating the coastal hazard data into the planning scheme, the Council is able to respond readily to policy direction at a State level and to be confident that the decision making processes at a local level have given due consideration to coastal hazards.

Thursday Island is not immune to the normal range of land use conflicts. Marine and seafood related industry are dominant industry components and their location on waterfront land is a clear priority. Despite this, much of the waterfront industry designated land on Thursday Island is occupied by housing or non-marine industrial activities so any residential expansion needs to be considered in light of important economic priorities. Similarly, the island’s concrete batching plant, is located on land which has been identified as being appropriately located for residential development. Relocation of such a critical piece of infrastructure (particularly having regard to the high cost of construction) must be treated with caution.

Government Housing

Torres Shire Council is a mainstream local government but with significant limitations with its rate base as a result of the vast majority of developed land being owned by the State or Commonwealth government. Due to the limitation on its rates base, not only does Council miss out on the payment of rates that other conventional Councils enjoy, but also there are no headworks contributions paid by the Crown or the Commonwealth.

In 2015 Reel Planning assisted Council in an assessment of the quantum of contributions “lost” with projects developed within the Shire as exempt development between 2008 and 2014. It is acknowledged that some of the developments are legitimately deemed to be exempt development for the purposes of the (then) Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (SPA), particularly the provision of ‘Public Housing’ (Chapter 9, Part 5 of SPA). The State Government has identified its housing for employees as ‘Public Housing’ and therefore has not applied to Council for development approval under SPA for the individual projects. Public Housing developments are also exempt from infrastructure charges as per Section 720 of SPA. It is arguable whether the intent of ‘Public Housing’ includes the provision of employee housing.

Legitimate exempt development was excluded from the assessment.

Key findings were:  The total unpaid infrastructure contributions for State and Commonwealth developments on Thursday Island and Horn Island equates to approximately $2.2 million.  Of all the State developments identified on Thursday Island, approximately 64% were for residential purposes (multiple dwelling units and dual occupancy) for employee housing. The contributing Departments are: o Department of Housing and Public Works (DHPW) – 78% o Queensland Health – 11% o Ergon Energy – 11%  Other State developments include industry, office, health and emergency services.  The majority (75%) of Commonwealth developments on Thursday Island were for residential purposes (subdivision, multiple dwelling units and dual occupancy) for employee housing and the largest contributor was the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA).

There would be outrage if this same thing occurred in a mainstream Council in south-east Queensland.

Conclusion

Thursday Island is experiencing significant housing pressures with approximately 200 additional dwellings currently required and a further 200 dwellings likely to be required by 2036. The addition of these dwellings would assist reduce the persons per household back towards the State average of 2.6, reduce the number of group and multiple households and it is expected, reduce the cost of housing. Existing studies have identified that the available residential land is not sufficient to accommodate the existing and future growth.

Thursday Island is a small urban area, however the unique features and challenges of the island mean that a ‘big city’ response to housing pressure might be more appropriate than that typically applied in a small town elsewhere in the state. This presents a challenge to those in charge of drafting the new planning scheme because the desire to make available additional land for residential purposes will have to be balanced against the existing constraints and needs of other industries. The lack of contribution from the State towards infrastructure provision has no doubt contributed towards the financial position of Council, effectively ruling out the provision of any infrastructure incentive for housing development. It is nevertheless considered likely that the rezoning of land, conversion of reserve land and new scheme provisions will assist in facilitating additional residential development to meet the demand.