Workforce accommodation plan approved for old Port Hedland detention centre amid housing shortage

Land in Port Hedland will be redeveloped, and an estimated 30 homes returned to the rental market, following the Town of Port Hedland’s approval of a development application for workforce accommodation. At a special council meeting on May 15, the council approved an application by Campbell Transport to use the former detention centre site on Dempster Street for five years, before developing the 3.23 hectares of land. The approved application is conditional on a maximum of 208 people on-site at one time, immediate landscaping including new planting and removal of mesh security fencing and the applicant supporting investment in social infrastructure such as footpaths. The agreement will also see 10 of the rooms within the development made available to the Town of Port Hedland as it seeks to undertake ongoing construction around Hedland. Mayor Peter Carter said the conditions offered benefits for Hedland, including about 30 homes being added to the rental market. “Housing is a handbrake on the economic growth of Port Hedland and the Town is committed to bringing more affordable housing to market,” he said. “Campbell Transport currently has staff in residential homes across Hedland. With this workforce accommodation approved for Dempster Street, those properties are expected to be vacated and available for other organisations or individuals needing rental accommodation. “We’re also pleased that ten of the rooms within the development will be made available for the Town of Port Hedland — this will support us in bringing much-needed contractors to town to carry out priority construction projects.” The site at 15 Dempster Street was originally built as workforce accommodation for Mt Newman Mining Company (now BHP) in the early 1970s before being taken over by the Australian Government in 1991 and converted into a detention centre for refugees escaping civil war in Cambodia. It was Australia’s first immigration detention facility and was used until 2001 when the Australian Government signed the Pacific Solution, which allowed illegal immigrants to be detained in centres outside of Australia, including Christmas Island and Nauru. It became a contentious site with protests, both peaceful and violent and escape attempts by detainees. The site was decommissioned in 2007 and leased by now-collapsed Auzcorp — controlled by Pilbara entrepreneur Haniff Kassim — which refurbished it to open the commercial accommodation facility Beachfront Village. The site has been dormant since 2012 and was purchased by Campbell Transport’s holding company in September 2022. “As part of the development the applicant will undertake immediate landscaping of the area, which will improve aesthetic appeal on Dempster Street,” Mayor Carter said. “In addition, the applicant is required to submit a plan for longer-term development of the site once the temporary workers accommodation facility ceases. “This site is in a prime location in Port Hedland and has been disused for many years. We want to see it developed permanently.”