Construction work will soon begin on a $13 million Tweed Heads project which will deliver new social housing for vulnerable community members and create dozens of jobs.

Minister for Water Property and Housing Melinda Pavey and Tweed MP Geoff Provest today took part in a ground-turning ceremony to celebrate the commencement of works at the 40-unit development at Boyd St.

Mrs Pavey said the NSW Government has contracted Woollam Constructions to deliver the modern, seven-storey project with 24 two-bedroom units and 16 one-bedroom units.

“This is another example of the NSW Government ramping up the delivery of well-designed new social housing in regional areas across NSW and building a stronger and safer regional NSW,” Mrs Pavey said.

“This project will form part of around 750 new social homes we’re expecting to complete in regional areas between this year and 2023-24, which should create more than $200 million in construction activity and around 1,000 jobs.

“At a local level, over the next 12 months, this project alone will create around 64 jobs during construction, including among local tradespeople.”

Mr Provest welcomed the project’s construction commencement and said it would help meet a rising demand for social housing in the region.

“Not only will this project deliver new housing for people doing it tough in our community, it will also have a high standard of modern architectural design to reflect the emerging character of this coastal location,” he said.

“It will feature communal open space for tenants, including a circuit path with bench seating, along with 39 parking spaces and 15 bicycle spaces. Importantly, four of the new units will be specifically designed for people with a disability.

The project is centrally located just 500m from the Tweed Heads CBD.

Construction is scheduled to begin before the end of March and be completed in mid-2022.