Ararat Rural City Council has launched the Ararat Worker Housing Transition Project to address housing shortages that are affecting the local industries' ability to attract new workers.
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Council has developed a model involving the construction of up to 30 dwellings to provide more accommodation options for workers moving to town.
Ararat Rural City Council chief executive Dr Tim Harrison said the project will provide a much needed short-term option for workers.
"Built entirely for the purpose of providing worker accommodation for local industry, the project creates quality transitional housing, allowing new workers to move to Ararat to fill local skills shortages," he said.
"Made up of shared worker accommodation (two bedroom) and family accommodation (three bedroom), the project aims to secure the construction and supply of housing for up to 45 workers annually.
"Tenants and their families will then eventually move through the accommodation as they establish themselves in Ararat."
Dr Harrison said the housing shortage has partially arisen from the region's thriving economy, but that it was a crucial problem to address nonetheless.
"We need to move now to capitalise on the transformation of the economy and the new opportunities created by the exodus of people escaping capital cities looking for jobs and a tree change," he said.
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"While this is an enviable problem to have, when we have a local industry that is investing millions in plant and equipment and securing new supply contracts, they need to be able to attract workers to fill the jobs available.
"This is where the need to attract new housing developments to keep pace with employment demand becomes critical."
Tenders for the project will close at 2:00pm on Tuesday, April 27.
For documents and further details on the notic head to https://www.eprocure.com.au/ararat/.
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