Storm impacts in Gympie region go way beyond the troubles of people directly affected by flood, wind or hail damage, according to building industry and state government sources.
The essence of their warnings is that the trade work and building material markets will be tight for years, as damage victims from the Gold Coast and Far North Queensland line up for repairs which Premier Steve Miles says may take years.
That means delays and higher construction costs as Gympie faces an already huge development and construction task, as a result of officially forecast population and industry growth in Gympie’s larger Wide Bay Burnett region.
And that is on top of ongoing efforts to recover from our own relatively recent flood and hail disasters.
The Master Builders Association has reportedly warned of “significant delays” in storm repairs – not necessarily confined to victims of last month’s storms.
The storms and associated homelessness issues come on top of a labor and materials market already under stress from significant population growth, much of it fueled by interstate migration, itself a product of booming numbers of people migrating to Australia from overseas.
Building costs across Queensland have risen enormously in recent years, according to reported comments from MBA building services general manager Tony Mitchell.
And this will only get worse during a lengthly disaster recovery phase, he warned.
The recently released Wide Bay Burnett Regional Plan calls for action across Gympie to accommodate big population and industry growth, inclding major subdivision projects to create housing, further boosting construction demand.
