FOR three days last weekend, the Coffs Harbour Showgrounds hosted something the region hasn’t seen before — a dedicated Tiny Home Expo, bringing builders, industry specialists and an array of walk-through tiny houses together for the first time.
Organiser Phae Barrett noted that alternative housing options were a very relevant topic for the region due to the significant housing pressure and compounding factors such as flooding, displacement and rising living costs.
Planning regulation was a major focus.
Jesse Anyan, of KingDomes and Glamporise, walked the crowd through the maze of rules governing where and how a tiny house can legally sit — whether it be classified as a caravan, granny flat, movable dwelling or short-stay accommodation.
He also highlighted Shellharbour City Council’s two-year trial allowing mobile tiny homes (which do not require a development application) as long-term rentals.
If the trial goes well, it is hoped there will be a permanent change.
Mr Anyan is also behind a large-scale research project that has added weight to a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into rural reform that recommends opening up planning pathways for secondary dwellings on agricultural land.
Ms Barrett launched Tiny Home Expo in Brisbane in August 2021, in the middle of COVID.
“We thought it would be a small show,” she says.
“We didn’t expect it to take off the way it did.
“But COVID made people think very differently about housing.”
The most recent Brisbane show drew more than 10,000 visitors; Coffs is one of several regional stops she rotates each year to reach towns beyond the capitals.
That reach showed in the Speaker Hall, where four women described their approaches, each varying in planning time, labour and cost.
Danielle Lester, now president of the Australian Tiny House Association (ATHA), bought a trailer and had the frame built before finishing the rest herself.
Sam Kurakawa, still in the planning phase of a recycled-materials build, started “She Bangs Tool School”, a women’s DIY skill-building group, after realising there was a dearth of short courses available.
Prema Thomas chose precut, bushfire-resistant panels rather than a conventional frame, paying only for labour and materials while managing the build herself.
Louise Southerden, whose home was recently featured on the YouTube channel Living Big in a Tiny House, wrote a memoir documenting her experience, and described the process as “the most social time of my life”.
Kim Connolly, former ATHA president, has “done it all” – she has owned a tiny house construction company, built several of her own and is currently living the dream on a communal block of land near Mount Tamborine.
She’s a wealth of knowledge and strongly encourages others to “Just do it.”
One of the most striking things about the tiny homes themselves, is the sense of space — generous decks and rooms, large windows, and add-on studios.
Ms Barrett says stories like those shared by the women’s panel are exactly why she keeps running the Expo.
“I believe that tiny house living is good for your mental health.
“I really do,” she says.
“I’ve met very few people who’ve done it and have regretted it.
“If anything, people just wish they’d done it sooner.”
Underneath the practicalities, the event’s core message came through: tiny home living offers financial freedom, stable housing, and something a little harder to quantify — the quiet confidence of building a life, and an asset, entirely your own.
By Jessica MILLER
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