‘New Collie' of regional WA pleads for development help
Shire president Dale Stewart has met with key ministers and staff over the past week to plead for financial help and an accumulative assessment report to help the town prepare for thousands of new workers.
Mr Stewart said most, but not all, of the proponents behind the 11 projects would build temporary worker camps for their construction staff.
But he said there would still be severe stress on the region's current housing stock, exacerbating the existing shortage which already includes a wait list of 80 applications for social housing and 20 for government employee housing.
He said the influx would also put pressure on local recreational, health and social infrastructure in the small town, which has a population of 5000.
'We are the new Collie in relation to the State's energy transition to net zero,' Mr Stewart said.
'I say that in the sense that there are nearly $18 billion worth of projects within a 45-minute drive of the Narrogin town centre to help WA reach its net zero by 2030 goal.'
The first three projects — worth $1.3 billion in total — are likely to be approved within a month.
It will be a significant move to achieving WA's move to achieve carbon neutrality by the end of the decade.
It also marks a serious transition of the State's energy powerhouse from Collie to Narrogin.
The State Government plans to phase out State-owned coal power stations in Collie by 2030, with the Collie Power Station closing in 2027 and the remaining Muja D units in 2029.
Mr Stewart said it would be unfair for the State Government to expect the region to cope with the stresses of the rapid population growth without ensuring some long-term benefit.
He said there were concerns that in the absence of any local builders of scale, local people would get priced out of rentals amid the influx of new construction workers — and others seeking to cash in on the new population.
'It's demand versus supply, that's economics 101,' he said.
To cope with the drastic housing shortage, the council was considering taking out a $10 million loan so it could build 30 homes at a local caravan park.
He said the town wants the State Government to incentivise the proponents of the renewable energy projects to build permanent houses because the worker camps would be dismantled after construction.
In the absence of permanent water, electricity and sewerage connections, the worker camps would not provide any long-term benefit to locals.
The raft of projects slated for Narrogin includes wind and solar farms, as well as battery storage facilities.
A development assessment panel this week delayed a decision on a $400 million solar hybrid project in Narrogin, deferring it for a month after a raft of amendments.
Sydney-based ACE Power plans to build the solar energy generation and battery energy storage system on Great Southern Highway in Narrogin.
Mr Stewart recently met with Minister for Regional Development, Stephen Dawson, Minister for the Goldfields, Sabine Winton, and a senior representative from the office of Housing and Infrastructure Minister, John Carey.
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