This year’s Y WA (formerly YMCA) Youth Parliament representative for Thornlie, Amit Kunnath, a Law and Psychology student at Curtin University and proud lifelong Maddington resident, used his position to advocate for the development of vacant land throughout the Thornlie electorate.
As one of 59 young people aged 15 to 25 representing a state electorate, Mr Kunnath engaged with local leaders to explore the challenges facing the electorate, which inspired him to write a Private Members’ Statement speech highlighting the potential of vacant land as a solution to the ongoing housing crisis.
He believes Thornlie is a potential goldmine for property developers amid a housing shortage and thinks they’re overlooking valuable opportunities.
“This is a wonderful place to live, but our local property developers struggle with infill projects and prefer more affluent regions. This isn’t just bad for our community; it’s bad for developers, too,” Mr Kunnath said
“While West Australians suffer from the housing crisis, property developers continue to miss out on the wealth of opportunities Thornlie and its neighbouring suburbs offer.”
Mr Kunnath would like to see more collaboration between the City of Gosnells, the State Government, and property developers to transform neglected land, such as Maddington Oval and other areas in Thornlie, Maddington, and Gosnells, into vibrant communities that can effectively address pressing housing needs.
“I understand that the issue is complex and that there isn’t an easy fix. But it appears there’s no good justification for the extent of unused residential blocks in the beautiful suburb I am lucky to call home,” he said.
“How is it that amid a housing crisis, all this land remains unused?”
Stretching 150 kilometres along the coast from Two Rocks to Dawesville, Perth’s urban sprawl has earned it the title of the ‘longest city in the world.’
A recent report by the Property Council WA found that the majority of new houses in Perth still continue to be constructed on the urban fringe and that WA has fallen behind in the delivery of new homes, with the shortfall set to increase by a further 25,000 homes by the end of 2027.
Speaking in parliament last year, in regards to the Land Tax Assessment Amendment Bill 2023, the Member for Thornlie, Chris Tallentire, spoke passionately about the abundance of vacant land in the local area and suggested the real estate sector may be leading the government astray about the need for more land.
“We have land that is 15 kilometres from the CBD that has been lying vacant for literally years,” Mr Tallentire said.
“They have roads, paths and lighting. It is all there. The expensive, heavy infrastructure is all there and ready to go, but, for some reason, we have not been able to develop it.”
“Meanwhile, the property industry is telling us that there is no land and that we need more land supply.”
Last month, the State Government announced new reforms aimed at increasing housing supply in WA, which will support the construction of 1,691 apartments across various suburbs, including Gosnells and Maddington, through the $80 million Infrastructure Development Fund.
Aiming to ‘unlock lazy land,’ twenty-two new projects will share up to $16.91 million from the Targeted Apartment Rebate stream to facilitate residential development.
