Redland City Council has unanimously backed a detailed submission raising major concerns about the planning, infrastructure costs and long-term deliverability of the proposed Southern Thornlands Priority Development Area.
The State Government is targeting October 4 for the final development scheme to take effect — little more than two weeks after public submissions closed.
The 900-hectare PDA could ultimately accommodate up to 24,000 residents in about 8,000 homes, alongside schools, employment land, parks, sporting facilities and new infrastructure.
Cr Rowanne McKenzie said Council’s 18-page submission covered 22 topics and was intended to ensure the cost of growth was not shifted onto existing residents.
“Prior to the STPDA being declared, Council’s position and expectation has always been that infrastructure for the PDA is fully funded by development proponents, with no cost shifted to existing ratepayers,” she said.
“While there is general support for the proposed residential land-use pattern and inclusion of employment-generating land, the main theme throughout our submission is that further information, investigations and detailed planning is required.”
Cr McKenzie said she held “considerable doubt” that Council and community concerns could be properly assessed in the short period before the proposed October 4 commencement date, although she hoped to be proven wrong by Economic Development Queensland.
Acting Mayor Julie Talty said Council wanted to work with State and Federal governments to help meet housing needs, but said the city’s financial sustainability had to be protected.
“The submission focuses on planning assumptions, infrastructure costing, and long-term deliverability of the proposed PDA and development scheme,” Cr Talty said.
“It emphasises the need for a transparent, consistent and robust planning framework that accurately reflects development impacts and ensures growth-related infrastructure is fully funded by the PDA development rather than our existing ratepayers.
“This is our main concern.”
Council says population projections are not consistently applied across the draft scheme documents. Its submission uses the latest cited figure of 24,000 residents.
It has also sought more detail on how background studies informed the scheme, noting some key planning elements were prepared before studies including the ecological assessment were complete.
The Council submission argues the proposed green network relies too heavily on Eprapah Creek and lacks a connected fauna network, particularly an east-west corridor through the PDA. It says no fauna crossings have been identified to maintain wildlife movement across major roads.
Council does not support proposed industrial land along Mount Cotton, Duncan and Boundary roads, arguing the land is fragmented and environmentally constrained. It has also questioned whether a proposed school site on Woodlands Drive is suitable because of its topography and development constraints.
A key focus is the funding and cost of infrastructure.
Cr McKenzie said infrastructure-cost assumptions were significantly below current market rates and Council’s recent delivery costs for comparable projects.
The draft scheme adopts a land-acquisition rate of $750,000 per hectare, but Queensland Valuer-General figures indicate average local land values of about $2.17 million per hectare.
“[The adopted rate] significantly understates the likely cost of acquiring land for infrastructure,” Cr McKenzie said.
Council has also raised concerns over wastewater servicing, including the cost of doubling capacity at Cleveland Wastewater Treatment Plant to serve an additional 24,000 people and the absence of a clearly identified and costed effluent-disposal solution.
Transport is another major issue, with Council seeking further justification that the proposed network can accommodate the full PDA.
Previous investigations identified the need to duplicate Springacre and Taylor roads, but the current draft scheme retains them as two-lane roads.
Cr Talty said that posed long-term risks, particularly as Springacre Road remained a Council road.
“This poses long-term risks and may lead to costly retrofits for Council at later dates,” she said.
Council says impacts on Mount Cotton, Duncan and Boundary roads have not been sufficiently addressed, despite the need to upgrade those corridors being recognised by the State Government 20 years ago.
It has warned that failing to protect adequate transport corridors now could result in expensive land acquisitions and retrofitting later, similar to the lack of room to widen Finucane Road.
The submission also calls for full funding of community facilities, rather than land acquisition alone, and questions whether the proposed district recreation park — which is less than the five-hectare usable-land benchmark — will meet the needs of the future community.
Council argues the proposed district sports park faces significant topographical and environmental constraints, requiring substantial earthworks. It says a suitable sporting site and full infrastructure funding must be provided within the PDA, rather than a financial contribution toward facilities outside it.
It has also called for greater consideration of health, ambulance, police, fire and emergency-service needs, warning the scheme does not adequately address the impact of 8,000 additional homes on existing city infrastructure or access to Redland Hospital and the health precinct via Wellington Street.
Division 9 Cr Jason Colley said residents had also raised significant concerns about the draft scheme.
“Unfortunately, there are many ‘gaps’ in the proposed draft development scheme which will present operational and financial issues in the future, if left unaddressed,” Cr Colley said.
“I sincerely hope that the legitimate concerns raised by Council in our submission — and by multitudes of residents who have spoken to me — will be considered.
“I would like to think this process isn’t just to tick the box, but is a genuine effort to deliver the best possible outcome for Redland ratepayers. Without major changes to the scheme, I don’t think that will be the case.”
Council has also asked EDQ to take responsibility for referring the development scheme to the Commonwealth for consideration under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
It has requested further information supporting the proposed infrastructure charge of $53,000 per lot, compared with $75,000 per lot proposed for the draft Waraba PDA.
Cr McKenzie warned that charges set too low would create a funding gap ultimately paid by the broader community through higher rates, taxes or government expenditure.
“While we respect the State’s decision to deliver more housing in south-east Queensland and will continue to work with the State to deliver positive outcomes for our community, delivering on election promises shouldn’t come at the expense of good city planning,” she said.
The motion to endorse Council’s submission to Economic Development Queensland was passed unanimously.
