Sophie Conlon
Short-term tourist accommodation development applications have remained steady in the City of Mount Gambier despite an “apparent uptick” in holiday offerings within the city.
At the June council meeting councillor Kate Amoroso asked if there had been an increase in application approvals and how council was managing them.
“How is the council monitoring and managing the impact of these rentals on our local housing market, including concerns like housing availability, affordability, and neighbourhood stability?” she said.
General manager city infrastructure Barbara Cernovskis said there had been four applications in 2023/24 and 2021/22 and three applications in 2022/23, while there had been 84 dwelling applications in 2023/24, 104 in 2022/23 and 70 in 2021/22.
While the applications for short term applications had been steady, not all of them needed council approval.
“Short-term tourist accommodation if operated on a commercial basis such as from an investment property, development approval is required,” she said.
“Short-term tourist accommodation if operated from a private residence such as when someone is away on holidays, development approval is not required.”
Ms Cernovskis said policies within the Planning and Design Code envisage a range of developments within residential type zones with short-term tourist accommodation able to occur.
She said work was being done across Australia by all levels of government and organisations to address the housing shortage.
“Council officers do follow up on enquiries about properties being used for short-term tourist accommodation. This is included in the number of applications identified,” she said.
“It is anticipated that change will occur within the housing space over the next few years, of which council will have a part to play from a number of perspectives.”
