"The sheer lack of affordable rental accommodation or affordable housing for middle-to-low-income earners is just atrocious," says Bruce Risby, who had experience with mining camps during his business career in Australia.
"It’s a quick, easy fix to get people out of cars and parking anywhere from here down to Kingston and sleeping in freezing conditions because there’s just nothing visibly available for them.
"And the market needs cooling off a little bit, too — people are getting a little bit greedy with their rents."
In Australia, Risby says mining camps accommodate anywhere from 200 to 600 workers in dormitory and one- and two-bedroom accommodation, and they can be easily moved todifferent locations and set upin just three months — a disused camp could be shippedover to Queenstown, he adds.
Here, a camp could just be set up for the ski season, he suggests.
His view is accommodation like this is vital in keeping essential workers here.
He believes council’s Ladies Mile site could work, but he believes central government should also play a role.
"I mean there is a social housing body in New Zealand which doesn’t seem to do anything in Queenstown, so maybe they could look at it" — Kainga Ora has just 13 local homes and no emergency accommodation.
Risby’s aware an Australian company’s just got approval to build a worker housing complex at Frankton, "but by the time they get that built we’re going to need more".
Local change strategy specialist and community volunteer Roselle O’Brien says she’s aware of people leaving town because they can’t find affordable rentals.
"I don’t know how anyone’s doing it on a low income in this town."
She also believes council’s Ladies Mile site, near a bus route, would be a good short-term option till a decision’s made on what’ll go there.
O’Brien believes a temporary workers’ camp would be "a bit of a stone in the shoes" to goad local and central government into providing more long-term solutions.
"We are in a crisis, why are we not calling it that and acting accordingly?
"I agree central government needs to help out, but I do think local government, and not just the QLDC, cop out on what they can actually do and have the power to influence."
What she likes about Risby’s idea is "it’s doable, and in my mind the only thing that’s really stopping it is bureaucracy".
O’Brien also thinks a workers’ camp can be part of a pathway programme towards people moving into more permanent accommodation.
‘No appetite among councillors’
Mayor Glyn Lewers knows a thing or two about Australian mining camps — in an earlier life, he put in a 1000-man mines camp himself.
But he says there’s no appetite among councillors for something like that in Queenstown.
The reluctance, he believes, relates to the disestablishment.
Lewers says council’s consulting on its Ladies Mile site, and while worker housing could be an option, its underlying zoning could be an obstacle.
He believes the government has a role to play in "making it easier for, let’s say, build-to-rent, or in that community housing space".
"And I know that’s certainly on their radar, and it’s certainly something I’d like to discuss further with them."
‘Better options than Ladies Mile’
Julie Scott, Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust’s chief executive, welcomes any new affordable and decent housing for local residents.
"Temporary accommodation of this nature has been discussed over the years but has never really got off the ground because we seem to lack suitable/affordable sites to land it. It needs to be considered in balance with the necessary infrastructure and, of course, whether the area is appropriate."
Scott’s not sure council’s Ladies Mile site is appropriate given the medium-term plans for the site, and it being Queenstown’s gateway.
"I would have thought somewhere like the Lynch Block or Gorge Rd might be a better location, given the infrastructure is there already and they’re in built-up areas.
"The other factor to consider is having a medium-long-term plan in place, otherwise a) the temporary units become permanent, or b) you end up having to move people on after a short timeframe.
"I think this is why Christchurch and Kaikoura [post-quake] accommodation worked well — because the government was stepping in with the long-term plan."
Scott says Remarkables Park’s Toru apartments are an excellent example of long-term affordable accommodation.
"We desperately need more of this product.’
