Building & Construction

Queensland Health has established a supplier panel of major construction companies to accelerate the delivery of three new hospitals and nine major hospital expansions under the Palaszczuk Government’s Queensland Health and Hospitals Plan ... “The building contractor shortlist of 12 was established based on an expression of interest process and through Queensland Health’s broader engagement with industry": Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Yvette D’Ath.

Public houses built in South Australia must use products manufactured in this state, under ground-breaking mandates introduced by the Malinauskas Government ... From now, South-Australian manufactured products must be used on public housing construction and maintenance programs, where available.

Katter’s Australian Party is flagging a proposal incentivising Year 12 students to take up the forgotten “wet” trades of bricklaying, concreting and scaffolding in a transitional schedule strategically-timed with the winter weather. In response to predictions that North Queensland would face an alarming lack of willing workers in the “wet” trades of bricklaying, concreting and scaffolding in the next decade, the KAP proposed to incentivise and provide employment pathways for an annually-set number of Year 12 students.

Logging contractors in Central and West Gippsland with virtually no work, a large mill in Orbost running out of log supply, while a new poll shows Victorians overwhelmingly support home grown timber for housing. Welcome to the paradox and crisis facing Victoria’s forest industry; the native forest sector, largely based in Gippsland, is at a virtual standstill due to legal action by environmentalists and decisions by the Supreme Court, as demand for native hardwood because of its beauty, strength and durability remains high.

As of NCC 2022, new residential dwellings will need to achieve the equivalent of “7 stars” NatHERS thermal performance. New homes will also have a new annual energy use budget applicable to the home’s major appliances such as space conditioning, hot water, lighting, pool and spa pumps, and any on-site renewable energy generation.

Queensland Minister for Energy and Public Works Mick de Brenni said the changes to the National Construction Code 2022, covered making homes more accessible for people with mobility challenges, and increased the energy efficiency and electric vehicle readiness of new homes.

The Murdoch University research team - working with local industry including Synergy, Bluewaters Power Station and South32 - investigated the feasibility of using fly ash and other industrial by-products and waste materials as an ingredient in a low carbon concrete product called 'Colliecrete'.

New opportunities to build in the growing regional hub of Karratha are now available, with the release of a range of residential and commercial lots in the Pilbara city. Ten large homesites at the award-winning Baynton West residential estate are being offered for sale ... At the nearby Tambrey Neighbourhood Centre, expressions of interest will soon be sought from developers for two commercial sites at the emerging mixed-use precinct.

Back in those dreary days of 2021 when we were still being locked down, Atlassian announced that its workers would need to attend at the office just four (yes, 4) times per annum ... So why has the NSW Government kicked-in $48.2m to assist in providing an office for… people who won’t be there? Especially when, as Atlassian management states in their latest Shareholder Letter, they are "Running a software company with nearly $3b in revenue".

Toowoomba Regional Council has endorsed seeking Ministerial approval to remove regulations to aid new housing supply. TRC Planning and Development Committee chair Cr Megan O’Hara Sullivan said this was part of four measures Council would use to simplify and speed up the approval process for new housing across the Region.

An independent report on the Iron Gates subdivision has been completed by town planner and consultant Malcolm Scott. The report was done for the Richmond Valley Council and will go to the Northern Regional Planning Panel later this month or early in August.

Narrandera Shire Council has now paved the way for two major manufacturing industries to establish at Red Hill Industrial Estate ... “This is a landmark announcement. Today I can formally identify the Bhullar Group - who plan to establish a major steel fabrication factory and industry training facility ... Additionally, Hi-Tech Modular Homes plans to establish a purpose-built state-of-the-art manufacturing facility ... " : Mayor Kschencka.

It will take until the end of next year before the details of the voluntary house raising scheme are sorted. This isn’t what homeowners want to hear. They want to make a decision now. Do they use flood recovery grants or home insurance payouts to raise their house? If they do, they won’t be refunded when the house raising scheme details are confirmed.

The Tweed’s first flood-free industrial land swap project is one step closer to fruition with construction works planned to begin at South Murwillumbah in August. The innovative plan will see eligible business landowners swap their flood prone land with Council owned, flood free land at Industry Central, located in Lundberg Drive, South Murwillumbah.

A Katherine company has been selected to build 20 new homes on a new subdivision at Beswick ... around the corner to the remote community of Gapuwiyak, an $18.2 million investment will yield 28 new homes ... The northeast Arnhem Land community has helped to plan the new homes, and will be involved in all aspects of construction.

Emma Pritchard. Timber producers throughout Northern NSW have been given a massive boost after the State Government announced a $10 million subsidy to assist local mills impacted by recent bushfires, destructive floods and relentless rain to source supplies from outside the region ... With J Notaras and Sons Sawmill presently operating at 60-70 percent below normal production, Ms Layton said the announcement will enable the local business to source timber supplies from further afield, and most importantly, allow the sawmill to remain operational.

A positive outcome for both the environment and a developer has been successfully negotiated by Clarence Valley Council with the approval of modifications to a proposed subdivision at Lawrence ... Community concerns were first raised in November 2021 when a Development Application for the first house in the subdivision was lodged with Council, which would have impacted on koala habitat and feed trees in the road reserve.

Geoff Helisma. Environmental watchdog, Valley Watch, first began predicting flooding of Yamba, as a result of developing West Yamba, in about 1995; on Sunday May 21, the group will present a more than 1,000-signature petition to the mayor, Ian Tiley (or his proxy), calling for a moratorium on further filling and development approvals on the Yamba floodplain. “Basically, the petition is demanding a well-designed master plan for West Yamba,” Valley Watch spokesperson Helen Tyas Tunggal said.

More than 50 new homes will be built in Cape York communities to address major overcrowding issues, but the state government has taken all the credit, despite using federal funding. Not for the first time, the health and wellbeing of Queensland’s most remote and vulnerable residents has been politicised.

There were 120 applicants for the eight new affordable housing units in Casino. Eight people now have a home to call their own. Momentum Collective with support from the State Government opened the $2 million affordable housing building in South Casino on May 6.