Richmond Shire in outback Queensland has sold seven blocks of land for $1, with the aim of overcoming housing, land and skills shortages.
Located halfway between Townsville and Mount Isa in northwest Queensland, Richmond is the Shire’s main township. It is home to around 70 per cent of the Shire’s population of 1,000 people and is best known for its beef cattle, dinosaur museum and Lake Fred Tritton, which is popular for swimming, sailing and skiing.
With a relatively small population, the Shire lacks several services and trades. In the past, a land and housing shortage has also restricted new people coming to the town to overcome these shortages.
Richmond Shire CEO, Michelle Clarke, said Council did much research into what other areas were doing and found that other towns that had held this type of land sale saw great economic benefits.
“We decided that we wanted to help people out for $1 in the hope that in return they will build a home and move to Richmond and maybe offer some skills in the town,” she said. “We don’t know much about the winners as yet, but we do know that one is a hairdresser, which is a much anticipated trade. Ideally it would be good to get other people with new skills – we don’t have a vet and we’re always looking for truck drivers and people with trades.”
Held in October, the $1 Land Grab was open to anyone, providing they had less than $500,000 in combined assets, pre approval from a bank to build a home and the ability to complete the dwelling within two years. Winners are also required to occupy the residence for at least a year.
On the day of the draw, Richmond Shire Mayor, John Wharton, drew out seven lot numbers and seven applicants and matched them together.
All blocks are 600 square metres and have sealed road frontages, with power, water and sewerage connections available.
Michelle Clarke said as well bringing seven new families to the Shire, the promotion also generated great interest in a land auction held two weeks later.
“The main focus of the Land Grab was always the cheap land, but the flow on interest was tremendous,” she said.
“We launched the idea at the Country Week Expo in Brisbane in September, which gained national and international coverage, resulting in enquiries from New Zealand and as far away as Russia. Tens of thousands of people hit on our website and we received 500 emails.”
A total of 39 applications were received for the Land Grab – 30 of which were accepted.
Michelle Clarke said applications were received from as far as South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, although most applications and the winning entries were from Queenslanders.
“We even had two gentlemen drive up from Sydney to be present at the draw,” she said. “Unfortunately for them they were not successful – but they did check out the land for auction.
“The entire promotion sparked huge interest in the town, with many people coming to check it out and most people that were unsuccessful in the Land Grab showed interest at the auction.”
For further information contact Michelle Clarke on (07) 4741 3277.
