2016 Annual Report
Miles details
Changes to Miles’s population
In 2016, resident population growth is back to around 1% per annum, with the number of workers still low. In 2017, it is expected that the number of non-resident workers will increase, as workers are relocated from camps into available houses in town.
It was reported that low rents and plentiful cheap housing were attracting lower income families to the town. It was also reported that these newcomers were not integrating well into the community.
CSG development brought a marked increase in population, with 1 CSG worker for every 4 residents in Miles in 2013. One interviewee noted at the time that “9 out of 10 people they see on the street seem to be strangers”.
The influx of mostly male CSG workers is reported to have affected feelings of wellbeing. Interviewees noted that women changed their socialising and exercise regimes. People drove their children to school instead of having them walk or ride. Interviewees said this shift in habits was due to the presence of many strangers and additional heavy vehicle traffic.
These changes in the size and composition of the population were described as challenging the town identity.
Housing in Miles
In 2016, both median house prices and rents fell steeply. Vacancy rates remain high.
Increased demand from the CSG sector boosted rents past the Queensland median in 2012-3. In 2013, Miles had the highest rent in Queensland. As housing became unaffordable for some, it was reported that people left the town.
Some local residents were reported to take advantage of the increasing house prices. These people sold or subdivided their block.
Departures of older, civically involved residents were said to contribute to a loss of social capital in the town. Volunteer numbers dropped, our interviewees noted.
During the period of CSG construction, the quality of the housing stock has risen. However, interviewees commented that since the end of the CSG construction period, there have been a lot of empty houses.
Business in Miles
Those interviewed expressed the view that not many businesses had benefited from the ‘CSG boom’. They said that Miles faced competition for CSG business from nearby larger towns.
Notwithstanding, total business income increased 5-fold between 2011-12 and 2012-13 and increased again in 2013-14. 2014-15 (the latest ATO data) shows a decline but total income is still five times pre-CSG levels.
Businesses were also said to have lost workers to the boom, with skills shortages rising from 39% to 61% between 2009 and 2013, according to survey at the time. Unemployment, already low in Miles, dropped further.
Safety in Miles
2016 police data shows a signficant increase in drugs offence in Miles after already increasing consistently since 2011. This puts Miles at an offence level more than 3 times higher than the Queensland benchmark. Overall crime has increased to almost double the rate for Queensland.
The total number of offences spiked in 2009-10 mostly driven by increases in traffic and drugs offences. In 2010-11 crime rates were reduced but since then have been increasing.
New policing methods and new drug detecting technologies introduced in anticipation of impacts from CSG development may have contributed to this upsurge, as police were more vigilant. Alternatively, or in addition, the rise could be attributed to the increase in the wealth, the number of CSG sector workers in town, or greater connectivity between towns. A rise in traffic offences might be due to the additional CSG vehicles and/or to greater police vigilance.
See the Miles booklet for more information
The statistical data and more detailed perspectives from the Miles interviewees are available in the Miles booklet. The booklet includes updated data covering 2015, and interpretations of trends by our UQ researchers.
We would like to thank members of the Miles community for their cooperation, and the gift of their time. We hope that we have done justice to their contributions to this investigation.
The UQ ‘Cumulative Impacts’ Research Team.