PHOTO: Coonamble High School Principal Stewart Vidler and Coonamble Public School Principal Annette Thomson inspect new teacher housing currently being built on Yarran Street.
By OLIVER BROWN
THE EXECUTIVE Principals from Coonamble Public and High schools are looking forward to the extra accommodation for current and future staff through a new teacher housing project.
The project will see four new units constructed on Yarran Street and available to school staff who move to the region.
A state government spokesperson said the project was part of a $29 million state-wide investment to deliver upgrades and new homes for teachers and police across 67 regional and remote communities.
“This includes a $2 million Teacher Housing Authority project in Coonamble to build four new units that will be used as accommodation for teachers working at local public schools,” the spokesperson said.
“The development of two two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units is due to be completed in December.”
According to the spokesperson, if COVID interruptions permit, the new units will be ready to occupy by the start of the 2022 school year.
Executive Principal for Coonamble Public School Annette Thomson said new teacher housing options would always be welcomed in town.
“Teacher housing is part of the remote strategy to get new teachers to come from Sydney or metro areas out to places like Coonamble by providing affordable and subsidised housing,” Ms Thomson said.
“It may be for some new staff that are coming next year but sometimes housing needs to change for teachers already here.
“Sometimes when our teachers first come, there’s not enough teacher housing available, so they might go in a private rental and still get their 70 per cent subsidy on that while going on a waiting list,” she said.
According to Ms Thomson, although CPS will welcome some new teachers next year, there will be a few that will depart at the same time, meaning there shouldn’t be any further demand on the part of the primary school.
Executive Principal of Coonamble High School Stewart Vidler said he was also anticipating some new teachers from next year although there are other reasons to necessitate new houses being built.
“The thing about teacher housing is that they are very good quality and therefore in high demand – the private rental market is also quite hot at the moment because of people coming here for work,” Mr Vidler said.
“You’ve also got some of the older teacher housing stock coming to the end of its life, so they’re likely looking to replace some of the older units with the newer ones.
“It’s good for us because it means we get some newer houses which are lovely and fresh and they can then retire some of the older ones,” he said.
ABOVE: The new units have been taking shape slowly under the radar and are hoped to be complete by the end of the year.
According to Mr Vidler, around half of the staff at CHS live in teacher housing, with the main exceptions being locals who have their own homes and a couple of teachers who live on larger properties on the outskirts of town.
A limited number of houses are also available to teachers who move to Coonamble with their families and want a bigger living space, although these are more expensive to rent.
Ms Thomson and Mr Vidler – both of whom live in teacher housing themselves – said there is a wide variety of teacher housing in Coonamble.
“Typically, (units) come with your basic furniture like a bed, a table, chairs, a coffee table, a lounge and a washing machine,” Ms Thomson said.
“It would be very good for people moving out of home in Sydney to their first teaching job in the country – all they would have to bring is their clothes, linen and basic household goods.
“I think it is very positive we are getting some more units in Coonamble – it’s so much easier to recruit a new staff member when you can offer them a place to live.”
“I think the fact we have a mixture of housing options is great because a lot of people do want to bring their families to town – one of my teachers actually wants to make Coonamble their home and send their kids to school here,” Mr Vidler said.
“Having new people move to town is a benefit to the whole community and having the availability of teacher housing just makes that process easier.”