Port Hedland residents air grievances over FIFO accommodation

A groundswell of discontent over transient workers' accommodation in Port Hedland came to a head last Tuesday when community members rallied to denounce a proposed caravan park development in Pretty Pool.

Two community consultation sessions were hosted by the Town of Port Hedland to give ratepayers an opportunity to air their views on the prospective village-style development earmarked for construction on the north-east corner of Styles and Sheridan roads.

A business plan prepared by the Town and Australian workforce accommodation provider The MAC Services Group, outlines the intention to build a village comprising 18 tent spaces, 36 caravan sites, 24 backpacker beds, nine bungalows and 348 single rooms on the 5.5ha site.

Session attendees slammed the Town for labelling the development a caravan park.

They argued that the classification was devised as a smokescreen to facilitate the construction of a transient workers' camp on the outskirts of one of Hedland's most sought-after suburbs.

Pretty Pool resident Tony Vujevich's impassioned plea for Town transparency on the matter was met with ovation and set the tone for the second session. "If you want to start engaging the community stop bullsh***ing us and telling us it's a caravan park when it's a camp," he said.

"Don't take us for fools, you keep calling it a caravan park and I find that disrespectful."

Another sceptic, Mick Soutar, described the proposal as "a token caravan park with TWA attached".

Using characteristically anti-workers' camp rhetoric, he accused the Town of failing to do enough to encourage people to live permanently in Hedland and give back to the community.

Town chief executive Mal Osborne was forced to run the gauntlet of anti-camp protesters, spending more than four hours fielding questions and attempting to expound local government procedures.

He defended classification of the project as a mixed-use caravan park, arguing that the land was vested in the Town for specific uses in 1996.

"People aren't interested in building caravan parks, they are simply not financially viable," he said, rationalising that the Town received no interest from proponents vying to develop a stand-alone caravan park.

Pretty Pool resident Peter Owen was keen to shine a spotlight on the Town's well-publicised monetary woes, imploring Town councillors to "listen to the people".

"For all I can see it's all about dollars and cents - and everyone knows about the Town's financial situation," he said.

Several participants attacked the Town for letting its fiscal misfortunes rationalise new business undertakings.

Their criticisms were addressed by Mr Osborne, who said he foreshadowed the Town being accused of "short-term cash grabs".

"I will be quite honest, it's about a financial return to the Town of Port Hedland," he said.

"I'm looking at everything possible to bring in revenue - that's my job."

A short presentation by The MAC did little to abate residents' apprehension about the proposal, as the company's WA development manager Ben Davis took a swipe at an FMG-owned workers' camp in South Hedland. "To call this proposal (transient workers' accommodation) is an injustice, we don't do Club Hamiltons, put it that way," he said.

A special electors' meeting to be held on Wednesday, February 19, at 2pm, has been called to further address the issue.