Michelle Daw, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

A scheme to attract young people to Barunga West Council has begun, with the first applicants accepted for rate rebates on their first home.

The scheme offers first homebuyers a flat rebate on council rates of $500 a year for two years and was launched in June.

The rebate applies to new or established homes and is part of a push by the council to attract younger residents to the area to create commercial and social benefits and to expand the council’s ratepayer base.

Sam Taylor and Tyra Wigzell have taken up the offer for the home they bought recently in Bute and said the savings would help them with renovations.

“The rising cost of living is putting pressure on and every dollar saved adds up and helps us out in the long run,” Mr Taylor said.

“We are really grateful to Barunga West Council for this rebate.”

Sam Taylor and Tyra Wigzell were renting and thought they’d explore their options to buy their own home.

Mr Taylor said Bute was an ideal location for their home, as he works on farms at Bute and Kulpara, and Ms Wigzell works at Kadina Memorial School.

Barunga West Council mayor Leonie Kerley said they had received a positive response to the rebate scheme.

“Our region has had an influx of new residents and property owners, and we are confident council’s innovative rates rebate scheme will draw more people to the area,” she said.

BWC attracted 69 new ratepayers in the 2022-23 financial year, with new subdivisions planned for Port Broughton, Bute, Tickera and Fisherman Bay in coming years to provide up to 300 new housing blocks.

This includes up to 230 blocks on 26 hectares of land between Fisherman Bay Road and Snook Road, which is being rezoned from Rural Zone to Master Planned Township Zone.

Three in every 20 of these blocks will be developed as affordable housing under state government requirements. 

This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 22 August 2023.