Bunbury will be the first community in WA to trial the Tiny Houses Pilot Project to help tackle homelessness.
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The WA Government has collaborated with community agencies to launch the project, which is close to completion after one year of planning and development.
The $180,000 plan – funded by the Local Jobs, Local Projects initiative – will see three small dwellings built on land in Plaza Street, Bunbury.
Designed to fit one person each for six to 12 months at a time, the dwellings include kitchen, bedroom and bathroom facilities.
The 30 square-metre houses were also designed for indoor and outdoor living.
Bunbury MLA Don Punch said the dwellings were fully transportable, effective for borrowing areas of land instead of purchasing land.
Accordwest, the Salvation Army Bunbury Corps, the City of Bunbury, and Aqwest assisted the State Government with creating the plan.
South Regional TAFE and the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Company Bunbury will be in charge of construction and service delivery duties for the project.
Mr Punch said the initiative would provide South West students with skills-based training opportunities.
After committing to the project at the 2017 State Election, Mr Punch said he was pleased to see it come to fruition.
He said it was an “innovative and cost effective” approach to providing assistance to those less fortunate.
“There has been a great deal of interest in this because it is an innovative approach to how we can provide accommodation for single people who are either homeless or highly vulnerable,” he said.
“We can provide them with the appropriate levels of support to settle in to their own accommodation and enable them to re-gain control of their lives.
“They can look to the future with a sense of positivism knowing they have got shelter, which is a basic human need.”
As the leading agency for the project, Accordwest will oversee the construction, maintenance, and security of the dwellings.
Accordwest chief executive officer Neil Hamilton said the dwellings were designed to help tenants work towards securing long-term housing.
The dwellings have been scheduled for completion by the end of 2018.
