City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder councillors have voted to lease council land to BHP for temporary worker accommodation, with a total of 1152 new rooms to be built.
Located in Somerville, the three-year lease agreement is touted to bring in $1.3 million a year to the council in rent and rates.
The camp has also been granted three one-year options after the initial leasing period.
BHP will now seek building approval for the camp, which will house workers for the construction of a furnace rebuild for the company’s nickel smelter as part of its Nickel West division.
“This is a big decision for the city, and we want to do what is best for our community long term,” City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder mayor John Bowler said.
“BHP have advised that 60 per cent of its workforce for its Kalgoorlie nickel smelter renewal project would be housed in the temporary village and this would not only ease the burden on residential housing but also have significant benefits for the local economy.”
BHP’s submission was recommended to the council due to the significant financial return it could create in terms of future services for ratepayers.
These funds will be held in city’s future projects reserve for the development of the area as traditional residential housing.
Kalgoorlie-Boulder deputy mayor Glenn Wilson told the ABC the camp is necessary to reduce pressure on the city’s housing market.
“We’ve already got $900-a-week rents in Lamington and that will only increase, putting further strain on family budgets,” he said.
BHP’s WA operations supply nickel to world markets for use in electric vehicle batteries and other growing technologies with an aim to support global decarbonisation.
BHP employs 2500 people across its Nickel West operations, a large portion of which are fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers.