Four ‘tiny homes’ will be built at 25 Racecourse Rd, Gosford following council approval of a development application for a Tiny Homes Foundation pilot project on the site.
Mr David Wooldridge, CEO and co-founder of the Tiny Homes Foundation said the organisation was still working with a certifier on final construction specifications before a construction certificate could be granted and the development commenced. The former Gosford Council entered into an arrangement with the Tiny Homes Foundation in October 2015 to provide land for a pilot Tiny Homes project to be developed that could potentially be rolled out nationally as an affordable housing solution. “Being a revolutionary concept to provide Australia’s fi rst approved multi Tiny Homes solution for homelessness, with tenant equity participation, there has been a lot of work to get it right and replicable,” he said. The pilot project in West Gosford will be an Australian first to transition people experiencing homelessness to home ownership at a built cost of approximately $15,000-$20,000 per home.
The Tiny Homes Foundation
(THF) is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing socially, environmentally and economically sustainable affordable housing solutions and support for people experiencing homelessness. The THF aims to work within a collaborative supported service model that seeks to address the needs of people experiencing, and at risk of, homelessness. The pilot program will comprise four tiny homes, a shared laundry and common space offering amenities and meeting facilities for the provision of welfare and education services. The site for the pilot comprises Lot 6 in DP 11569 and is known as 25 Racecourse Rd, Gosford. It is rectangular in shape and has an area of 930 square metres with a frontage of 15.25 metres to Racecourse Rd and 61 metres to Showground Rd. The site is relatively fl at but elevated from both streets with a timber retaining wall and metal balustrade running the full length of both street frontages. It is well screened by dense vegetation along Showground Rd and located approximately 450 metres north of Gosford Railway Station and approximately 100 metres east of Gosford Hospital.
The land is owned by council and historically contained a dwelling and several outbuildings that accommodated the Gosford Family Centre. All buildings have been demolished and the site is currently vacant. Council has approved the construction of four ‘tiny homes’ to be used as self-contained boarding accommodation for four lodgers that will have access to a common laundry and lounge/meeting room. Remaining land will be used for common open space, landscaping and vegetable gardens. Each ‘tiny home’ is designed around passive solar principles to maximise year round thermal comfort. The site will be managed in partnership with a local social and community housing provider, Pacific Link Housing (PLH) which has over 30 years of experience in providing social and community housing, with over 900 properties and 2,000 tenants on the Central Coast and in the Hunter Region. “It is this partnership that will ensure the successful management of the site, in accordance with an adopted Management Plan,” according to a Statement of Environmental Effects submitted as part of the DA. The tiny homes will provide lodgers with a place of residence for a minimum of three months. Mr Wooldridge said commencement of the Gosford project is still some months away.
Interview, Jul 21, 2016 David Wooldridge, Tiny Homes Foundation Email, Oct 21, 2015 Gabby Bowles, former Gosford Council Website, Jul 26, 2016 DA49365/2016, Gosford Council Find an Application Jackie Pearson, journalist