Colac sets scene for regional housing inquiry

Community groups, local government representatives and agencies operating across the area had their say on the matters affecting housing.

Associated Kiln Driers CEO Shane Vicary said the biggest issue for Australia’s largest sawmiller when it comes to building houses is time.

‘As the volume of houses under construction goes up, the time it takes to build a house goes up,’ he said.

‘We have gone from an average for nearly eight years there of six and a half to seven months to build a house to now well over 10 months.’

“ ‘The time it takes to build a house has exponentially increased.’ ”

Shane Vicary, Associated Kiln Driers

‘It is a national crisis, so it requires a bipartisan approach. It is too important to be political.’

Mr Vicary said dwelling construction in Australia is an economic driver and the regions have a massive opportunity.

‘We have got a lot of land, and we do not need anywhere near the amount of infrastructure,’ he said.

Friends of Lorne President Penny Hawe encouraged the Committee to come up with creative solutions.

‘For us, 69 per cent of our houses are not used full time so it seems a bit daft to just be thinking about building outside the town boundaries,’ she said.

‘We need to be looking at ways to use the existing housing stock, not just because it saves vegetation and habitat but because it saves on building new infrastructure.’

Victorian Forest Products Association CEO Andrew White said the timber industry is uniquely positioned to support the supply of housing, including renewable materials for sustainable development.

‘New lightweight framing options are a key opportunity for housing, particularly given steel production for an average four-bedroom home releases about seven times more CO2 compared with pine framing,’ he said.

However, Mr White said there’s currently a slump in demand, resulting in a surplus of wood products.

‘That is really putting a strain on both our mills and also on our processors, and this is quite ironic given that there are long-term projections that by 2050 there will be actually a shortage of timber.’

Mr White said there are a range of actions which could be taken immediately.

‘One is to change the government procurement policies to enable and support the adoption of modern methods of construction, adjusting inadequate payment terms, setting mandated embodied carbon targets, protecting our plantation estate with fire surveillance cameras, investing in sawmills and workforce, improving our transport networks, streamlining regulations and consideration of other new modular forms of construction.’

FormFlow specialises in modular building, which is the construction of multiple dwellings on one site with traditional trades still doing most of the work.

Managing Director and Founder Dr Matt Dingle said the method could reduce costs and increase supply.

‘Modular construction, we believe, can deliver on the housing needs for regional Victoria, but builders need a consistent and reliable pipeline of work to support investment,’ he said.

‘Then as builders we need to commit to ongoing innovation to bring costs down, and when the costs for modular are consistently lower than traditional building, that decision should be much easier.’

Wannon Water Managing Director Andrew Jeffers said smaller scale developments, such as minor water and sewer extensions in peri-urban areas are a challenge.

‘There are 24 unsewered towns across our region, and that lack of sewerage services is a barrier to development in those towns,’ he said.

‘What we have found, and we have done close work with local government and communities, is the cost of building a sewerage scheme at a town scale is far beyond the community’s ability to afford it.’

The Committee also heard from WinAngLo, which was established for community projects in and around Winchelsea, Anglesea and Lorne, including the Winchelsea Community Village consisting of ten small homes suited to older people in the area.

The Colac Otway Shire, Warrnambool City Council and Surf Coast Shire Council and Barwon Water also appeared at the hearing on 24 February.

The full transcripts, as well as locations and dates of future hearings are progressively published on the Committee’s website.