News

What do they supply?

Accommodation for workers on Project EnergyConnect

When did they start on the project?

Late 2023

For Luke Payne, the issue of good, comfortable accommodation for contract workers strikes a chord, having spent many years in the mining industry staying in mining camps where he slept in rooms where you could lie in bed and touch both walls with your arms outstretched.

So when he moved to Darlington Point from Queensland some years ago for family reasons, he recognised an opportunity.

“There was a lot going on in the area with the Griffith Base Hospital Redevelopment, as well as rapid growth in the agricultural and energy sectors but there was a lack of good quality accommodation where people can enjoy coming back to after a long day’s work and relax and unwind,” says Luke.

He decided to build Darlington Point Accommodation Village, and, knowing what it’s like to be a contract worker away from home, made sure the accommodation at the Village is modern and comfortable, offering a range of fully self-contained cabins with full kitchens and ensuites.

“It was purpose built for contract workers, more so than tourism, and my years in mining definitely influenced the way that I built it,” he says.

“I wanted to make sure it was as comfortable as possible.”

And Luke was pretty hands on with the build.

“I project managed the whole thing from start to finish. The buildings were manufactured and delivered to site, but I did the grounds and the irrigation systems and pretty much everything apart from the plumbing and electrical,” Luke says.

Finished in 2020, the Village was booked out by Elecnor for about eight months to accommodate subcontractors who were working on the construction of the Dinawan camp, located near Coleambally  to house workers at the Dinawan substation.

In recent weeks many of the contract workers relocated to the Dinawan camp, but now the camp is full.

“They’ve started shifting guys back in so now I’m pretty much closed to the general public,” Luke says.

“It’s good economically because it is consistent. I don’t have to worry about chasing business, and they are good guests – up at about 5.30am and gone, and back at about the same time at night.

“It’s good because of the routine and efficiency of not turning beds over every night, and it helps with planning and staff management.”

For Luke, the vision was always to build the business up to a saleable point and then sell and move back to Queensland, so the business is now on the market.

He’s had quite a bit of interest but, as he says, he doesn’t have to sell, he just thinks it’s probably a good time and a good opportunity for someone else.