Tablelands Leads the Nation with a Housing Innovation First!
The PeoplePurposePlace Atherton Tablelands pilot projects held their first major public open house over the weekend of 30 August. What a success it was!
Almost 100 turned up to gawk at the “new kid in town”, often scratching their heads about why no one had done this previously! They came from as far as Douglas Shire and well west of the Tablelands.
Anne English, MC of the day; Shane Knuth, MP for Hill;
Rod Marti, Mayor TRC; Darren Finlay, CEO of PeoplePurposePlace
MP for Hill, Shane Knuth, with some of the local visitors
Local Identity and head of Tablelands Law, Anne English, was the MC for the event. She introduced the popular MP for Hill, Shane Knuth.
Mr Knuth demonstrated his well-known proclivity for supporting local initiatives in introducing the concept of PPP, showing his conviction that more of this innovative housing initiative can be viable for investors and for those who are often unexpectedly in need of housing.
Next up was the Tablelands Regional Council Mayor, Rod Marti, who reinforced the political support for local initiatives. Mayor Marti emphasised that this and the second pilot project for PeoplePurposePlace have been achieved with no public funding. Local investors can find a way by taking advantage of this programme to invest with a modest rate of return and a significant social and local impact. It goes without saying that more local investors will mean more local housing for those who do not qualify for our many public housing schemes, all of which are heavily oversubscribed due to the housing crisis.
Darren Finlay, CEO of PeoplePurposePlace and creator of this novel concept in creating more affordable housing, was introduced next by Ms English. Mr Finlay, articulate and crowd-friendly, gave a short talk and answered questions until he was hoarse!
As Atherton Tablelands Ambassador, Jenny Sader, said, “Darren has what the kids call ‘riz’–a quiet sort of charisma that helps to draw people to his great ideas.”
But as Mr Finlay pointed out, “No project is accomplished without a great team, and our tiny, but dedicated Tablelands Team really pulled the stops out to make this a great introductory weekend. Both investors and potential residents were so excited about the possibilities and thrilled that this is happening right here next to Malanda as a national first!”
Jana Mueller, the behind-the-scenes organiser and manager for the day, also spoke up, “We have a great Tablelands Team and a great concept from Darren, but without our Tablelands’ leader and Darren’s first investor, Christine Doan, none of this would have been possible.”
Future Open Houses are planned. If you missed this one, jump into the queue for the next and watch this space!
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