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The omission of Springside Hill from Kiama Council’s draft Growth and Housing

Strategy should have come as no surprise. Yet after working with Council for more than

two years on this proposal, the only one offering social and affordable housing, we had

come to hope that good sense and the best interests of the town would prevail.

We are disappointed at this initial missed opportunity to provide a short to medium

solution to the housing crisis in Kiama, however Traders In Purple and Housing Trust will

continue to press the case for Springside Hill through our discussions with Kiama

Council.

Kiama has the most unaffordable housing in regional NSW with a median house price

15 times the median income. There is not a single affordable rental home in the entire

local government area.

Our commitment, to dedicate 25 percent of homes to those currently locked out of the

housing market, had given hope to locals, first home buyers and those who face an

uncertain future. The alternative is the difficult choice of leaving Kiama, just to be able

to afford a roof over their heads.

Some, like Scott, who runs a local business and whose daughter attends childcare in

Kiama, have already been forced out of town. He now commutes from Lake Illawarra

and his partner, a nurse, endures a 1-hour drive to the place where she works.

Nathan is another who employs 13 people in Kiama, but escalating rent and the high

price and scarcity of land forced him to build his home elsewhere. He knows of many in

their 30s and 40s in the same predicament.

“I know some Kiama residents want to have no change in the local area but that is

coming at a significant cost by damaging local housing affordability for families like us,”

says Nathan.

For Patricia, in her 50s, the future looks increasingly bleak. Having endured a 40 percent rent increase on the home she and her family of five had lived in for eight years,

only for it to be sold anyway, she saw Springside Hill as her one chance to secure her

future.

Now she worries that it will not come soon enough, and the family may have no choice

but to leave, severing the social and community ties she has worked so hard to build.

“Springside Hill is such a smart development,” she told us. “Why would the council

turn it away?”

Why, indeed.

These are just some of the stories that we have been told in our many conversations

with the community. As we continue these conversations, we learn more and more

about the pressures and the sense of hopelessness, and the relief that Springside Hill

might bring.

Every time we have a chat with people like Scott, Nathan and Patricia, we say the same

thing – we believe in our Springside Hill project, we are committed to our 25 percent

guarantee, we are here to deliver a long-term vision and we will keep working with

Council and all stakeholders to achieve this.