The Finocchiaro CLP Government will relocate residents of the Batten Road YiSSA transitional housing facility to Batchelor as part of a costly plan that will see a new repurposed demountable facility built that will also accommodate remote flood evacuees, but the decision has irked Batchelor residents and its local council who say the government did not consult with anyone there before announcing the “bad idea”.

The government announced through state media the NT News on Wednesday that it will spend a combined $16.25 million to build and fund the new homeless facility on land next to the Batchelor Institute, that will involve moving dongas from down the road at the temporary flood evacuation centre that was built in three days at Batchelor last March to accommodate flood evacuees.

Mission Australia will run the new transitional facility, the government said, which will be built and ready for residents by October 11, which the Minister responsible said in no way was rushed and also pledged an additional $2 million to the local council for upgrades to local roads and “signage” ahead of the new facility opening in just over three weeks.

Children and Families Minister Robyn Cahill said relocating the YiSSA facility to Batchelor was necessary because the government and AusCo could not reach an agreement on extending the contract at the Batten Road operation, despite the Federal Government offering $3.5 million to assist.

“[This] is a really exciting prospect, both for the [Batchelor] community, as it will see considerable investment into the community, and also for those people who are uncertain as to what will happen when the facility in Batten Road closes,” Ms Cahill said at a press conference at the site of the new facility in Batchelor.

“This is a beautiful spot – we’ve got people who are really needing to have somewhere to actually get their lives back together, to be able to actually work with all the service providers who are there to assist them…where they need that respite – this is the best place to do it.”

But Coomalie Community Government Council president Ross McGorman said the project was a “bad idea” and that Batchelor simply does not have the amenities or services required to meet the needs of those at the facility.

He added the government did not consult with council or anyone in Batchelor before making the surprise announcement.

“We were told they [demountables installed in March for flood evacuees] we’re going to be removed,” he said on ABC Radio. “That’s what we were told.”

Instead, the government will move the 35 or so dongas up the road for the new long-term facility next to the college.

“The relocation from YiSSA, I mean, that’s for people visiting Darwin and quite often vulnerable people,” Mr McGorman said. “They don’t want to be in Batchelor that doesn’t have the amenity or the services to provide for those people. We don’t have counselling services for dealing with violence, or dealing with people with special needs.

“It’s a long way from Darwin if you don’t have a car.

“It’s a bad idea.”

He added that the Batchelor Institute said they were not aware and that council only received a “heads up” of some sort of announcement yesterday.

Steve Deveraux had a copy of the NT News tucked under his arm Wednesday morning around the time Ms Cahill and her advisers were heading up the highway back to Darwin after the brief press conference.

The long-time Batchelor resident was angry the new facility would be built in the quiet town without any consultation or discussion and was wondering aloud how the article was written yesterday for today’s paper when nobody in town had heard about the new facility and were all left to believe the dongas for flood evacuees were going to be removed.

“They give it to them so it’s in the paper before telling anyone here,” he said.

When told it was what the government and NT News call a “drop” which means the article purposely contains no opposing viewpoints or criticism, he shook his head in disgust.

Mr Deveraux said crime increased in the town when flood evacuees were sent to the community in March which scared local seniors, despite claims of increased police presence.

“We had police cars here but it didn’t help,” he said. “There’s too many old people who weren’t sleeping. They were scared.

“The whole thing is not appropriate.”

Fellow Batchelor resident Richard Luxton agreed the new facility would not be a benefit to the community.

“It’s on a flood plain here,” he said pointing across the street from the site. “It floods right there and washes out the road, right here, where they want to build it.”

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Ms Cahill said her department – which recently lost its chief executive for reasons she continued to refuse to explain Wednesday – worked to “identify the people who are living in the existing facility” at Batten Road and what was required to get them into permanent housing.

Ms Cahill said around 30 people from the YiSSA facility have been “relocated back to their home country”, while others will be supported by alternative community service providers, which will leave roughly 100 people to be relocated to Batchelor, but that number could climb to 150.

She said people with acute health issues will be assisted by other service providers.

The government said the new facility will be funded with $9.25 million that was earmarked for the previous transitional housing facility and another $7 million from the $100 million Flood Recovery Fund for “emergency evacuation capability”.

Ms Cahill later denied not communicating with the community about constructing the new facility in Batchelor and claimed there was a “meeting with council that’s been held recently”.

“So, there’s been extensive discussion around what we could do,” she said. “There’s been a number of options looked at…”

She declined to say what other options were considered but said it centred around which service providers could manage a new facility.

“It meant that it would be much harder to manage and it wouldn’t necessarily give us the ability to move quickly into providing that result,” she said. “So, this was the best option…to be able to do by the time needed.

“No, it’s not rushed.”

Ms Cahill said the government had no plans for the Batten Road land.

She also said recently departed chief executive Brent Warren did not come up with the idea to move the YiSSA facility to Batchelor.

“No,” she said. “Brent Warren had an offer to do another position and he accepted it.”

She said there was no argument between her and Mr Warren before his sudden departure and then ended the press conference without taking any further questions.

Labor Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said the CLP’s plan to move the transitional housing facility to Batchelor was all about “what suits the Finocchiaro CLP Government, not what the people who rely on YiSSA need”.

“Without a replacement in Darwin, hundreds of people who need to travel into the city will be left with nowhere to stay, forcing more vulnerable people to sleep rough,” she said.

“[The government] is taking money promised for disaster repairs and mitigation to fund its Batchelor plan.

“Six months after announcing $100 million for disaster repairs and mitigation, communities are still waiting to find out when urgent works will begin and how they will be supported ahead of the coming wet season.

“The CLP Government is trying to fix one problem of its own making by taking money away from communities still waiting to recover from natural disasters earlier this year.”