Tiny home tourist park on Great Ocean Road approved

APPROVAL for 30 tiny homes to be used as tourist accommodation on the Great Ocean Road should set a precedent for their use as permanent housing along the coast, advocates have argued.

The proposal from Singapore-based company Big Tiny at a Peterborough property was given the green light by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal earlier this month after its initial approval by the Corangamite Shire in March 2021 was challenged.

Australian Tiny Home Association (ATHA) president Janine Strachan questioned why tiny homes were not being used to ease the housing crisis in areas such as the Surf Coast Shire, given the shire amended local laws last year to allow people to live in tents or caravans for up to four months.

“ATHA’s members are seeking approval of a local law for the permanent living for tiny houses within the shire so that people can occupy tiny houses legally… so that landowners can apply for a tiny house to be permanently parked there.

“They’ll need to supply power and water, but that can be captured as part of permit conditions, just like what this (Peterborough development) has been approved for.

“I presented in April last year to council about the proposal, but in reality it’s closer to two years we’ve been having discussions.”

Ms Strachan said it did not make sense to allow tiny homes to be used for tourist accommodation purposes in the region but not for permanent housing.
“What is the difference between allowing people to be accommodated in tiny homes and living in tiny homes?

“Meanwhile in Anglesea and Aireys Inlet, there are 564 people on a waiting list for housing.”

The Surf Coast Shire is working on its response to the region’s housing issues, particularly the impact on businesses as key workers are priced out by rapidly increasing rents that have now hit a weekly median of $520 in the municipality.

By comparison, the median rent is $430 in Melbourne and $420 in Queenscliff and Geelong.

The shire released an Affordable Accommodation Action Plan in January this year that outlined the challenges faced in providing lower cost housing and the paths forward on how it might achieve this.

The shire has given itself a 12-month timeline to address the issue, including employing a full-time worker to assist with the process. Ms Strachan believed the shire would soon release a discussion paper on the occupation of tiny homes.

“We look forward to the release… so we can start to see some delivery.”