2016 Annual Report
Miles
The Miles CSG development story: Introduction
Miles is a smaller rural town in the far west of the Western Downs Regional Council area. The main industries in Miles are traditionally grazing and cereal cropping as well as some sawmilling.
2016 Synopsis
Miles appears to have experienced more clearly pronounced effects in relation to CSG development. Town resident population rose 8% in a single year in 2013. This figure does not include non-resident workers.
When non-resident workers are included, population growth (Full-Time Equivalent) as experienced by local people was 17% in 2008, -6% in 2009 and 2010, 6% in 2012, 13% in 2013, followed by -8% in 2015. Population changes of greater than 5% in a single year are considered to contribute to 'boomtown' effects. In 2013, one in every 4 residents was a non-resident worker. In 2016, the number of non-resident workers continued to fall.
Average personal income increased in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 financial years to at or near the Queensland average. In 2014-15 (the latest ATO data), the average has dropped 6.6%, to a level below the Queensland average, approximately to where is was before CSG.
Total business income increased five-fold from 2011-12 to 2012-13 and increased again in 2013-14. In 2014-15 (that latest ATO data) this figure had dropped slightly, but still remains five times pre-CSG levels.
House prices peaked in 2012-13 following a high number of sales (120) in 2011-12. This increase was short-lived and house prices have fallen steeply since then. In 2016, house sale prices fell even more than in previous years. Median rents were almost double the Queensland median in 2012-13 and stayed high into 2014 before almost halving again in 2015. In 2016, rents continued to decrease significantly. At $200/week rents are below what would be expected when comparing Miles to the Qld benchmark trajectory.
What we did and why
The Miles CSG development story has been created to understand the impacts on Miles from coal seam gas (CSG) development. This has been done with the help of key members of the Miles and district community, including:
- Community and business organisation members
- Real estate agents
- Motels and other local business managers (including some with contracts with coal seam gas companies)
- Police
- Staff from schools
- Welfare agencies
- Local and State government staff
These people were presented with statistical data on ‘indicators’ of social and economic impact. The ‘indicators’ are:
- Population
- Affordable housing
- Youth employment in the CSG sector
- Income
- Infrastructure condition
- CSG company-funded youth training
- Number of enquiries for assistance at the community centre
- Top three offences recorded by police
- Staff availability/ skills shortages for local businesses
- Available tourist beds
Working with our researchers, the people interviewed in Miles discussed the accuracy of the statistical data from a local perspective. That was done in research interviews.
Statistical data were collected and interviews with locals were conducted in 2013. This was during the peak of the construction phase of CSG development in Miles.
The data has been updated to cover 2016. Researchers have included an interpretation of the updated data, supported by interviews conducted in 2017.
More information about the interviews is available here.
Through the interviews, a local perspective on the Miles CSG development story was created. From working with the Miles community, here is what we found.