Kalgoorlie council backs BHP plan for 1,100-bed mining camp

Mining giant BHP’s plan for large-scale workers’ accommodation in Kalgoorlie-Boulder looks set to go ahead, despite concerns increasing numbers of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers will destroy the historic mining city’s “social fabric”.

City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder councillors voted nine to three in favour at Monday night’s ordinary council meeting to approve a lease agreement with BHP’s Nickel West division.

While the Big Australian needs planning approval before construction of the temporary accommodation village can begin, that step is likely to be a mere formality.  

BHP plans to build the camp on council-owned land at 1 Trasimeno Way in Somerville and a 107,611 square metre portion of Lot 9,000 Bates Drive.

The three-year lease agreement, which includes three one-year options, is expected to generate more than $1.3 million a year in rent and rates for the council. 

Deputy Mayor Glenn Wilson said the city’s accommodation crisis would worsen if the mining camp did not go ahead.

“We’ve already got $900-a-week rents in Lamington and that will only increase, putting further strain on family budgets,” he said.

“There’s going to be a higher cost of living and that’s going to be detrimental to the future of our city.”

Councillors Dave Grills, Mick McKay, and Suzie Williams opposed the plan, which received 25 objections during public consultation.

“I will stand in solidarity with the objectors who do not want a mining camp built among all their houses,” Cr McKay said.   

Cr Williams added: “I don’t believe we’re getting enough return for the social fabric that is going to be destroyed.” 

Cr Grills described FIFO as the “cancer of the bush”, saying he did not believe ratepayers would get “bang for their buck”.

“I am not anti-development, but will they be able to provide power to our grid?” Cr Grills said.

“Will that [camp] be able to help us out at Christmas when 1,000 people have their air conditioners on?”

Camp scale grows 

While initially advertised as a 1,000-bed camp, BHP told the council it had since done additional design work and determined the space could accommodate 1,152 rooms. 

The camp will house construction workers for a planned furnace rebuild at BHP’s Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter.

The smelter’s general manager Jacinta Parsons said up to 2,000 workers would be required, with BHP targeting at least 20 per cent of local labour and suppliers for the project.

“We’re going to need a highly skilled workforce … and the reality is we’re going to be unable to source all of those people from Kalgoorlie,” she said.

“The purpose-built facility means we won’t be consuming excess amounts of hotel short-stay accommodation and it also means we won’t have additional burden on the rental market.”

Record levels of FIFO

Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor John Bowler, who is set to retire at October’s local government election, said he hoped the camp would ease the pressure on accommodation providers.

“There’s still another 800, 900 workers who some way or another have to find a bed in the community in local hotels and motels, so it’s still going to be a squeeze and some might say the camp should have been bigger,” he said.

Mr Bowler said the city could reinvest the money from BHP into future housing developments and community projects.

“My quick back-of-the-envelope estimate is at least $5–6 million will be injected directly into the city council,” he said.

“Many more millions of dollars every year will be injected into the local economy with services and supply contracts … plus a lot of people flying into our airport where we make a handsome profit.”

That “handsome profit” was revealed to be $14.7 million at Monday’s council meeting, up from $9.5 million the previous year.

The increase in FIFO activity was reflected in Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport’s busiest year on record, with 380,516 passenger movements during the 2022–23 financial year.

It was well above the previous record of 305,102 passenger movements during the 2018–19 financial year.

Monday’s agenda also included discussions behind closed doors about an airport hotel, with councillors voting 9–3 to lease land adjacent to the terminal to an as yet unnamed accommodation provider.