Developer Wanted!

One of the more costly and compounding problems facing the Douglas Shire commercial sector at present is how to attract and maintain a seasonal workforce whilst still being able to equip these workers with all of the necessary skills needed to be of value to our local industry.

I am not just referring to the Hospitality Industry workforce either, the phoenix like re-incarnation of the Agricultural Industry could soon too benefit from such an arrangement whereby casual transient staff could be housed, possibly fed and in some cases even schooled for a pre-agreed dollar value per week.

Let’s face it, we could really use a fully catered multi-purpose residential campus in the Douglas Shire, especially if it had access to equitable Public Transport.

A multi-purpose residential campus would take pressure off an overheated rental market which has a direct impact on the size of the transient workforce, this in turn has a compounding effect on the size of the localised permanent work force as it is often these seasonal transients who statistically settle and become long-term residents and eventually rate payers.

A residential campus, built in stages, that could house one-hundred or so workers or students would not only be a viable investment for a developer to embark on, it should also become a worthwhile business for any successful tenderer to operate. The social, commercial and economic synergies derived from a project like this present themselves everywhere.

For instance, a residential campus would be a positive way of housing a transient workforce equitably. Employers could sponsor beds at the facility and as they found staff could offer subsidised short-term housing until staff found a longer term solution or moved on.

A fully catered version of a residential campus could serve to further enhance the Douglas TAFE college or even James Cook University by way of courses on offer locally. There is also both State and Federal Tax Incentives for industry to invest in training making this proposition even more domestically palatable in the long term.

A residential ‘English College’ for overseas students would further enhance the local economy and add depth to the linguistic skills currently available to local employers engaged in international tourism marketing. I strongly encourage local Government and business to look at this idea seriously.