The LNP State Government has declared a Priority Development Area (PDA) over 890 hectares of land in Southern Thornlands south of Boundary Road – from Mount Cotton Road in the west to Springacre Road in the east.
Over the next 20 years this PDA will be have about 8,000 new homes, new shopping centres, parkland and community facilities said the State Government in a media release issued on the weekend.
Redland City Council says that the State Government’s decision to declare the Southern Thornlands PDA is “contrary to the Council’s position” and “further greenfield land is not required for Council to achieve its housing targets”.
The declared Southern Thornlands PDA would accommodate up to 20,000 people said Redland City Council, including lots that are less than 300sqm, as well as duplexes and other higher-density housing options.
What is a Priority Development Area?
In Queensland most development is regulated by local councils in accordance with the Planning Act 2016. But the State Government has powers under the Economic Development Act 2012 to declare priority development areas in which the State Government makes all of the planning and development approval decisions. In priority development areas the community has less opportunity to have a say about what gets built and no right of court appeal.
Redland City’s two existing priority development areas (Toondah Harbour and Weinam Creek) were declared in 2014 by the short-lived Newman LNP Government. These PDA’s (requested by Redland City Council in 2013) have been debacles, each costing ratepayers several million dollars with little to show for the money spent.
What will the Southern Thornlands PDA deliver?
The State Government says an early release area will provide an initial boost of around 900 homes including up to 20 per cent new affordable and social dwellings.
This early release area which the State Government calls Precinct 1 is located on the eastern side of Springacre Road.
The State Government has put in place (without any community consultation) a temporary planning framework to regulate development in Precinct 1.
This planning framework is called the Interim Land Use Plan (ILUP) and the State Government says it expects that it will be in force for about 18 months.
Meanwhile the State Government will proceed with preparation of a Development Scheme for the whole of the Southern Thornlands PDA which will deliver “a vision, a land use plan, an infrastructure plan and an implementation strategy”.
The PDA Development Scheme will include public consultation – hopefully done much better than the travesty of public consultation for the Toondah Harbour and Weinam Creek PDAs in early 2014.
What about the infrastructure?
8,000 dwellings accommodating 20,000 people will create a need for more infrastructure and services, including:
- Transport – road upgrades and additional public transport services
- Water supply and sewerage services
- Hospital and medical services
- Schools and childcare
- Parks and open space
- Playing fields and indoor courts for a wide variety of popular sports e.g. football, basketball
- Police.
So who (if anyone) is going to provide the necessary infrastructure and services?
Redland City Council wants the State Government to pay up. “The Queensland Government must make a commitment to our city that the full cost of delivering critical infrastructure both within and outside the PDA will be at no cost to Redland City Council and our ratepayers” says Mayor Jos Mitchell speaking on behalf of the Council.
The State Government says it will prepare a Development Charges and Offset Plan (DCOP) to “sustainably administer trunk infrastructure delivery in the PDA” including water supply, sewerage, transport, community facilities. The DCOP will be prepared over the next 18 months and put out for public consultation together with the proposed PDA Development Scheme.
But infrastructure charges in Queensland are capped so generally what happens is existing ratepayers end up subsidizing the cost of new infrastructure. Since Redland City Council already imposes the highest rates in southeast Queensland, it seems quite likely that the Southern Thornlands PDA will add to the heavy burden of being a Redlands homeowner.
Interim Sewerage solution may be required
The State Government says in its Interim Land Use Plan that for the initial 900 dwellings to be fast tracked in Precinct 1, an interim sewerage (wastewater) solution may be required. Many Redlanders would know that the controversial Shoreline housing project was approved in 2015 without plans for sewerage services. Hundreds of homes have been built at Shoreline and currently their sewerage is trucked to a treatment plant in Logan City. A State Government facilitated treatment plant discharging into the Logan River is under construction and may be completed later this year.
Environmental impacts
The State Government claims without evidence or justification that:
“The Southern Thornlands PDA will protect environmental values while supporting appropriate development that facilitates housing supply. The PDA will also contribute to the preservation and rehabilitation of important environmental corridors that facilitate fauna movement and connect regionally significant habitat areas”.
More likely, the addition of 8,000 homes in a relatively undeveloped part of Redlands will put further pressure on wildlife including endangered koalas. Redland City Council’s mapping shows various categories of koala habitat in the PDA.
Backstory
Discussion about development in Southern Thornlands has been ongoing for many years. You can find some information about Redland City Council’s deliberations on the Council’s website.
This PDA is not only the death knell for Redlands Koalas but will also destroy an ecologically invaluable corridor that connects the bushland of Mt Cotton with Pt Halloran Conservation Reserve on Moreton Bay. A creek of this size will not be able to cope with the runoff from the stormwater from 8,000 house roofs and associated hard infrastructure such as roads, especially given the steep slopes.
The PDA also contains the sources of Hilliards and Thornlands Creeks and as such should be protected from development to safeguard the water quality of these creeks which also flow into Moreton Bay.
The PDA is just not suitable for the intensive development proposed. The terrain is quite steep in places (70 metres on Woodlands Drive down to 15 metres where Springacre Road crosses the creek) which adds greatly to the cost and difficulty of infrastructure such as roads and sewage. Besides it will visually ruin one of the most scenic areas of the Redlands with a sea of house roofs.
The local government prepared a plan which took many of these things into consideration – it is a bit rich when the State Government thinks it knows better and takes over to cram in as many houses as possible when council declares that they can meet their targets without this development.
Good on them. We may be better roars this way
The fact that the “that the controversial Shoreline housing project was approved in 2015 without plans for sewerage services means that hundreds of homes have been built at Shoreline and currently their sewerage is trucked to a treatment plant in Logan City. ” This shoddy development plan was passed by Redland City Council when Karen Williams was the Mayor and despite objections from Logan Council in relation to discharging sewage eventually into the Logan River after construction of the homes this development is still having sewage removed regularly by truck. The development reflects badly on both Lend-Lease and Redland City Council. The development is high-density and every single tree was removed from the area before construction started. The development should never have been approved.
Alternative to building Toondah Harbour apartments on Ramsar mud flats.
Growing population must live somewhere
Koalas must live somewhere! This is where they live. This is one of the last remaining corridors. Stop pretending koalas can take more habitat destruction.