Ex-Water Corp land on Terry Road stuck in bureaucratic limbo despite housing crisis

A desired social housing or eco-house development on disused Water Corporation land on Terry Road looks unlikely to get support from the slow-moving State Government. Almost a year since the Times reported local housing activists from Just Home had identified the languishing site as ideal to meet the shortfall in Margaret River’s public housing offering, a Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage review has not reached any conclusions about the site’s future. A spokesperson for the department said the 15ha vacant site had constraints which required further investigation. “The department is yet to complete a full investigation to determine the future use of the land given the site’s physical limitations and planning and other processes required to be undertaken,” the spokesperson said. “The site has limitations due to the potential infrastructure requirements needed, like connections, drainage and remediation for industrial use. “Further investigations of the site will be required before the Government can consider potential future uses.” The land was decommissioned more than 10 years ago. The project was first flagged by Just Home chairwoman and ex-Shire of Augusta-Margaret River councillor Naomi Godden among a wish-list of WA Government actions to address the region’s housing crisis. “We had envisioned a low-cost eco village with a diversity of housing typologies and community infrastructure,” Dr Godden said last year. That list was also put before Housing Minister John Carey, but he declined last year to make any commitment, pointing to funding applications under way involving Lotterywest and WA’s Department of Communities. While the Shire asked DPLH for the land to be put under its management, difficulties around activating the site led to calls for greater investment in social housing at any suitable locations within the shire.