NSW South Coast in desperate need of housing
But for some of those who already call the shire home, destroying the bush and expanding its small, close-knit neighbourhoods, seems too heavy a price….
Almost every week in Batemans Bay in New South Wales, local social media pages are filled with a familiar plea.
"I have [a] perfect rentals history. I don't like asking for help but now I'm desperate," wrote Amanda Orford, a mother of two.
"The stress level is extreme."
Since her post in October to desperately seek a home on the South Coast, Ms Orford and her family found a rental.
But in the Eurobodalla Shire, an area in the middle of a housing crisis, they are the lucky ones.
There is no lack of will from locals to find a solution, but with 80 per cent of the area covered in protected forest and coastline, the pressing question is: Where are new houses going to go — especially when it involves bulldozing much-loved bushland?…