The Kalgoorlie-Boulder Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KBCCI) has called out the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder for a lack of housing development, with an ongoing housing crisis in the Western Australian region."
The Council has come under fire for rejecting a number of development applications, including building a suite of townhouses at a carpark on Egan Street, a mining camp in South Boulder that would be able to accommodate 302 persons and a housing development at Broadwood. The developments equate to approximately $10.5 million in land sales.
The development on Egan Street was rejected due to potential impacts to CBD parking, while the mining camp is located on a light industrial area. The Broadwood site is of Indigenous importance and has been earmarked as a future park and memorial by local elders.
Chamber of Commerce CEO Simone de Been says there must be more done to address the housing shortage in the area.
"Today there were 1,311 jobs (posted) and that is only on one jobs website," she says in an interview with the ABC.
"Where do these people live if we don’t have accommodation for them?"
A statement by the KBCCI indicates their position on Council’s inaction.
"(Council has said) it is becoming simply 'too hard' and there appears to be a strong 'anti-development' stance being taken by council.”
Many companies in the area are snapping up land for temporary accommodation, which is taking potential homeowners out of the market. City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor John Bowler admits the constant state of limbo is disconcerting.
"I am getting frustrated, but we have a democracy and the council voted that way," he says.
"I'll now work with the council to try and find another area of land in our city to sell, because we are desperate to get more accommodation."
MLG Oz, the company who’s mining camp DA was rejected, is currently processing an appeal with the State Administrative Tribunal.
