2021-09-13 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                    13 SEPTEMBER 2021


       An entity other than the state (e.g. a not-for-profit organisation or local government) as
        community housing.
Social/disability housing
The proposal includes 4 units (No’s 12-15) that have been designed to be Specialist Disability
Accommodation (SDA) compliant at an ‘Improved Liveability’ design standard. Refer Table 1 – SDA
Design Standard.
    Improved Liveability          Housing that has been designed to improve ‘Liveability’ by
                                  incorporating a reasonable level of physical access and enhanced
                                  provision for people with sensory, intellectual or cognitive
                                  impairment.
    Robust                        Housing that has been designed to incorporate a reasonable level of
                                  physical access provision and be very resilient, reducing the likelihood of
                                  reactive maintenance and reducing the risk to the participant and the
                                  community.
    Fully Accessible              Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical
                                  access provision for people with significant physical impairment.
    High Physical Support         Housing that has been designed to incorporate a high level of physical
                                  access provision for people with significant physical impairment and
                                  requiring very high levels of support.
Table 1: SDA Design Standard categories

The SDA design standard sets out detailed design requirements for buildings, and is one of the
supports that may be funded under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). SDA refers to
accommodation for people who require specialist housing solutions, including to assist with the
delivery of supports that cater to their extreme functional impairment or very high support needs.
SDA does not refer to the support services, but the homes in which these are delivered. SDA may,
for example, have specialist designs for people with very high needs or a location or features that
make it feasible to provide complex or costly supports for independent living (NDIS Specialist
Disability Accommodation Design Standard, 2019). It is noted that those with high support needs
are often considered priority with regard to funding.
Participants receive an SDA budget that is sufficient for a shared arrangement (for example with 1-
4 others) or to facilitate access to shared supports. Through SDA funding, the NDIA anticipates
growth in models that make use of smaller domestic built forms for 1-5 permanent residents
excluding careers. It is particularly rare for participants to receive a budget for sole occupation of a
dwelling, so houses with 5 bedrooms are more typical. With regard to Tewantin, Council officers are
aware there are 3 SDA houses that have been constructed at 38 Butler St and 41 & 41A Griffith
Avenue in recent years.
Delivery of social/disability outcome - Negotiation with the applicant
Although, the applicant proposes SDA compliant units designed for improved liveability, there was
no initial indication that these will be made available through a housing provider for public/social
housing. Council officers requested that the applicant explore the option of entering into an
agreement with a disability or social housing provider for 4 of the 19 units. This would provide some
community benefit in delivering disability/social housing to Tewantin and provide some certainty to
Council that 4 units within the development would not be put on the open market.
Council’s planning solicitor has advised an infrastructure agreement for social housing does not meet
the Planning Act 2016 requirements and therefore has drafted a deed of agreement for Council and
the applicant to enter into. However, Council’s planning solicitor has advised that a deed of
agreement presents some risks to Council that the applicant may still choose to put the units on the
open market (and it would be difficult to prevent this) and for this reason included a number of
mechanisms in the deed to minimise this risk to Council. Council’s planning solicitor also
recommended a number of conditions be included on any approval.
The draft deed included the following:


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