Workers Accommodation
March 28th, 2009
Published in the Gladstone Observer
Thank you to those that provided feedback on our first column last week, it was gratefully received.
This week’s column looks at the development of temporary workers accommodation to support the usual caravan of construction workers that follow large infrastructure developments.
With the number of projects currently proposed for Gladstone, their timing and the proposed number of workers for the construction period, the housing of workers was identified as a critical area to be reviewed.
The GEIDB commissioned a consultant towards the end of 2008 to undertake a comprehensive study into a “Gladstone Construction Workers Accommodation Precinct”. The subsequent precinct planning report adopted by the GEIDB provides a high level precinct development strategy including staging and costing information for a construction workers village precinct in the Gladstone region. The precinct development strategy would be just one of a mix of options to provide accommodation in response to projected industrial development growth and the changing needs for a construction workforce.
Given that some of the project projected workforce ranged from a few hundred workers to a peak of a few thousand and could occur concurrently it’s important that the report looked at staging the availability of workers accommodation so that a precinct could realistically contain a workers village of up to a maximum of 4,000 persons. The infrastructure requirements were identified for the development of a precinct to cater for initially 500 with staging of the appropriate infrastructure with 1,000 person increments up to a maximum of 4,000. Modern workers accommodation villages’ are a far cry from a collection of dongas on a work site. The report looked at industry best practices for workers accommodation and identified that a site of some 600 hectares would be required to accommodate the ultimate development.
Apply the density regulations of the local planning schemes the workers could be accommodated on site in modern, all ensuite double story accommodation blocks with the village incorporating a range of social and sporting amenities. Each staged development of the workers village requires significant upgrades of power, water, sewage, communication and road networks in the precinct. The report identified the development of a workers village in a precinct around Calliope River Road as the most appropriate site and would provide a significant infrastructure legacy for future development of the area after the site was decommissioned as workers accommodation. The study will be made available to project proponents looking to establish workers accommodation; it provides a body of work that gives proponents a lead into locations and costs of establishing an appropriate facility to service development in the region.