Site of 122 townhouses north of a fauna corridor in the Kinross Road Structure Plan area
Development of 122 Kinross townhouses, purchase of a “strategic property” by the Council owned Redland Investment Corporation, and arrangements for delivery and funding of sewerage services in southern Redlands are on the agenda for Redland City Council’s meeting on Wednesday 14 December.
Dog laws public consultation
The deadline to have your say about proposed changes to dog laws is today.
Redland City Council is proposing to allow 4 dogs (no permit required) to be kept on properties greater than 10,000sqm that have more than one lawful, occupied, self-contained dwelling. The Koala Action Group is urging people to engage in the consultation process and say to say NO to these proposed changes.
Kinross townhouses
Plans for 122 new townhouses on the site of the Orchy fruit juice factory at 67-85 Kinross Road in Thornlands will be considered by Redland City Council on Wednesday.
In 2020, development application RAL 19/0071 proposed to subdivide this site into 50 housing blocks with an average average lot size of 461m2.
The current proposal is from Brisbane-based townhouse developer AR Developments who issued a statement in September about environmental aspects of the proposal.
There were 51 properly made submissions opposing the proposed development following public notification from 9 September 2022 to 30 September 2022.
Traffic access to Kinross townhouses
Most vehicle traffic accesses the Kinross estate via Kinross Road although a second route will be established as part of plans for a new shopping centre on the corner of Boundary Road and Panorama Drive.
The image below is marked up by Redlands2030 to show the proposed development site for 122 Kinross townhouses immediately north of a designated fauna corridor.
Kinross structure plan
The Kinross Road Structure Plan, adopted by Redland City Council in February 2012, was required by the State Government to meet expected population growth in Redland City.
A few months after the Structure Plan was approved, 12,200 square meters of protected vegetation was bulldozed at this site. The matter was prosecuteed by Redland City Council who announced in December 2012 that Corgold Pty Ltd had been fined $21,000 plus costs and issued with a revegetation order.
Purchase of “strategic property”
Purchase of a “strategic property” by the Council’s poorly performing Redland Investment Corporation is listed for discussion as a confidential item on Wednesday.
The meeting agenda states that “discussion of this matter in an open meeting would, on balance, be contrary to the public interest as it deals with negotiations relating to a commercial matter involving the local government for which a public discussion would be likely to prejudice the interests of the local government”.
Redland Investment Corporation is the Council’s wholly owned property.
Over the past four years, Redland Investment Corporation has lost a total $766,108 of ratepayers’ funds, as detailed in a recent Redlands2030 story:
Another loss for Redland City Council’s property company
Shoreline sewerage on Council’s agenda
The delivery and funding of a regional wastewater treatment solution and trunk network for Southern Redland Bay is also listed for confidential discussion on Wednesday.
When the Shoreline housing estate in Southern Redlands first obtained Council approval in 2015 this was on the basis that the developer (now Lendlease) would be responsible for funding $100 million of infrastructure.
When announcing Council’s decision to approve Shoreline, mayor Karen Williams said:
“As a potential future urban area, Council has been able to ensure that all necessary Council infrastructure, such as water, sewer and parks, will be provided to service the development at no cost to the existing Redlands community”.
Court appeals
Here is a link to the Council’s latest report on court appeals and actions.
Link to Council meeting agenda
The 14 December 2022 Council Meeting Agenda (including all reports except for confidential items) can be accessed as a 150MB pdf document on the Council website.
The Agenda contents are shown below:
Redlands2030 – 11 December 2022
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One Comment
So, how does RIC intend to finance this strategic purchase? ‘Strategic Purchase’ carries expensive overtones! Hard to imagine 4 years of losses leaves it in a strong cash position. Is there sufficient cash or will debt financing be required? Will RCC be required to increase its equity stake to support RIC ambitions? Hopefully some of our councillors can shed some light in this dark commercial-in-confidence corner.