Resort owner criticises Shire’s new policy to regulate short-stay accommodation

A new local planning policy which requires short-stay accommodation providers register with the Shire is not going far enough, according to a local hotelier, who said traditional accommodation providers were still disadvantaged. The new policy will require short-stay accommodation properties rented through companies like Airbnb to have signage indicating the property is a short stay and have ample street parking, amongst other requirements. It comes in response to community outcry to clamp down on the providers, with a rental crisis seeing less than 10 properties available for long-term lease town-wide. But despite the Shire’s action, Habitat Resort manager Michael Leake, who has been a long time advocate of regulation for short-stay accommodation said the Local Planning Policy doesn’t go far enough. “I think a lot of it is heading in the right direction but there are three main issues I have detected,” he said. “The first one is there needs to be a designated person who’s contactable and responsible 24 hours a day.” “Secondly, the number of properties needs to be kept down — it can be a proportion of the industry, it can be a proportion of the total number of residential houses or it can be a hard number but there needs to be a cap, based on the financial viability of the industry, and also the residential housing requirements in the town.” “And the third one is, they (the Shire) need to understand that they are obliged to allocate resources managing the policy now into next year until Town Planning Scheme No. 7 is actually enacted and then they need to make sure there’s the resources and the will to manage this new policy.” But Shire of Broome president Harold Tracey said in an opinion piece published in the Advertiser this week that the Shire had carefully considered local concerns through a public submission process, with aims to make the policy work for everyone. “Holiday houses and the provision of short-term accommodation is a complex issue — and one that fosters different opinions across our community,” he said. “There should be flexibility for visitors to Broome to choose different types of accommodation options — we believe this new Policy will facilitate this in a fair way.” Mr Tracey said the new Local Planning Policy aimed to “even the playing field” between long term rental owners, short stay accommodation property owners and other holiday venue providers. “The new LPP will allow short-term accommodation options such as Airbnb to operate in parts of Broome, like residential areas, which were previously not allowed,” he said. “However, the important part of this equation is that the homeowner will need to register with the Shire as a legitimate provider for this to happen, with applications assessed on a case-by-case basis.” The new Local Planning Policy won’t come into effect until the Local Planning Scheme No. 7 is officially approved and gazetted by the State Government. The Shire’s decision comes just after Airbnb decided last week to make its COVID party ban policy permanent, banning all parties at its properties internationally. Airbnb was contacted for comment but did not respond by time of print.