Two new ‘tiny homes’ on Noosa Council land at Tewantin will support young people transitioning from crisis accommodation to independent living.

Mayor Clare Stewart said Council was pleased to assist Youturn with land for the tiny homes at Earl Street, between Youturn’s premises and Tait Duke Cottage.

“With the fortnightly Social Services Hub next door, and Youturn on the other side of the site, young people will have easy access to a wide range of support services.

“If successful, the three-year pilot program could become a model for other councils that are facing similar housing issues.”

Youturn has raised the funds to build the tiny homes, which each have two bedrooms and a bathroom.

“This ‘Big Hearts for Tiny Homes’ project is a first for our organisation and one that we are truly passionate about,” Youturn’s GM of Community Services Darce Foley said.

“We really want to take the opportunity to acknowledge and extend our gratitude to our community, our charity partners and our corporate donors, who have helped us achieve this initiative.

“The deposits have been paid and Aussie Tiny Houses have commenced with the builds, with an expected delivery of mid to late October. Noosa Council has been extremely supportive of this initiative and helping us to secure suitable land for these Tiny Homes.”

Community Development Officer Kylie Finigan said the project met Council’s social strategy goal of partnering with not-for-profits to find housing solutions.

“Youth are a priority group identified not only within our own Social Strategy, but the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement and the state’s Homelessness to Housing Strategy 2020, so there is a very real need for projects such as this.”

In other changes on the site, Noosa Community Garden is set to relocate from the Earl Street site to a larger Council plot at Wallace Park.

Council will help the garden relocate and develop partnerships with Wallace Park neighbours, including Noosa Community Support, while the larger site will also enable Oz Harvest to establish a food production bed at the garden.

“We are so excited at the opportunity to expand our community vegetable garden to Noosa,” Chapter Coordinator Michele Lipner said.

“Already, our pilot plots at Peregian Beach Veggie Village are producing beautiful vegetables that are helping supplement our food donations to local charities and schools who help those who are food insecure.”

Council is looking to provide the Earl Street site for the tiny homes initially for three years, made possible under provisions within the Planning Act.

“As a home grown, local Sunshine Coast charity, whose long-term vision is to strengthen our community by tackling youth homelessness, we look forward to welcoming our first families to our tiny homes by Christmas,” Mr Foley said.

Mayor Stewart said Council was pleased to support tangible solutions to homelessness.

“Tiny homes are one way to tackle the big problem of housing availability. We look forward to seeing how this trial goes as it’s a practical solution we can support today to help at least one vulnerable group with accommodation.”

 Council will ratify the arrangements at its Ordinary Meeting on Thursday, September 16.