Arabic version: كويلبي تقدم منح أراضٍ لزيادة عدد السكان

According to The Guardian, Quilpie, an opal town nearly 1,000km west of Brisbane, has announced its biggest-ever land release, offering 62 residential lots and a $20,000 grant to people who build homes. The local council is seeking to expand a population of just over 500.

The initiative follows a 2021 free-land program that drew hundreds of inquiries within days. Six blocks of about 1,000 square metres were taken up, with buyers required to build a home and live there for at least six months. Five years later, two homes have been built, despite the former shire council CEO saying five homes in two years would have been a huge success.

Heather and Matt Stennett moved from Brisbane’s Spring Mountain to Quilpie in 2023 with their twin sons and took up one of the blocks. They established a construction company, but Heather Stennett said building in the town is prohibitively expensive because of labour costs and the expense of supplying materials. The family bought a prime mover and trailer to transport freight themselves. She estimated their house would have cost about $1.2m if they had paid a builder at the going rate.

Mayor Ben Hall said he is realistic about the prospect of rapid growth, noting that there had not been a new home built in Quilpie for at least 15 years before the giveaway that attracted the Stennetts. He said even 20 new residents would have a major effect on the community. University of Queensland Associate Prof Elin Charles-Edwards said remote towns generally need government intervention beyond local councils to reverse population decline, while land giveaways usually work only on a small scale.