Land & CommunitiesChris ThomsonWed 03 Jun 26
WA Sells Seaside Site for $1 to Deliver Geraldton Worker Village
Going to extraordinary lengths to deliver two worker accommodation projects, the WA Government is selling an 8.8ha seaside site for $1 as a developer seeks to extend a maximum five-year approval by 10 years.
WA planning and lands minister John Carey said his government would sell 8.8ha of “underutilised” land owned by the Crown to the City of Greater Geraldton for $1 to support development of a 140-unit key worker village.
“The sale ... is a recognition of the significant benefit this project will have for the Geraldton community and for the region’s growing economy,” he said.
The site at 165 Willcock Drive at Mahomets Flats is 2km south of the Geraldton CBD and 100m from one of the city’s most popular surfing beaches.
Carey said the village would be built over several stages to provide housing for key workers and their families.
Before the sale offer, the state had provided $8.7 million for headworks on the land.
Meanwhile, in the outback gold mining City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, civil construction company Jagcor has applied to extend a five-year approval for 66 new units at its existing worker village on Great Eastern Highway by a decade.
Adding the 66 units to the existing 122-unit facility (pictured above) at the suburb of Somerville was approved by WA’s regional development assessment panel in August 2022, with a construction deadline of five years.
A submission on Jagcor’s behalf by Planning Solutions associate Joshua Carmody said that of the 1959 temporary accommodation rooms approved by the panel for Kalgoorlie-Boulder since October 2022, just 153 had been delivered.
“This highlights the challenges proponents face in delivering temporary accommodation,” Carmody said.
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder acting chief executive Lui Camporeale has recommended Jagcor’s application be approved when the panel meets on June 4.
Jagcor was contacted for comment.
Elsewhere in WA’s Goldfields-Esperance region, the Shire of Esperance is proposing a 20-unit worker housing project to accommodate 30 key workers from the government, community services and business sectors.
Set at 74.9 per cent of market rent, 10 of the units would be affordable homes. The remainder of the 20 units would comprise seven for government employees and three for mid-tier administrative workers in the business and non-profit sectors.
The shire is seeking $8.09 million from the WA government for the project and has promised to chip in $2.5 million of its own money.
