QUESTIONS about housing development on the Southern Moreton Bay Islands (SMBI) have highlighted the limits of local government control over residential construction under Queensland law.
Residents on the islands have raised concerns about the loss of trees and environmental values, pressure on infrastructure and services, and what they describe as a decline in amenity and community character.
Div 5 councillor Shane Rendalls said much of the housing growth stemmed from decisions made more than half a century ago, not recent council policy.
“In 1970 and 1971 the Southern Moreton Bay Islands were subdivided into residential lots,” he said.
“That was more than 50 years ago, at a time when the islands were not part of any local council and the subdivisions were approved by the State Government.”
He said under Queensland’s planning and building framework, owners of residential land were legally entitled to build on their lots, provided they complied with the Queensland Building Regulations.
“There is no legal mechanism for council to stop the construction of houses that comply with those regulations,” Cr Rendalls said.
He said Redland City Council’s role in regulating construction on the islands was limited, with the key area of local oversight relating to compliance with wastewater treatment guidelines.
Cr Rendalls said council had taken a firm position against any further subdivision on the SMBI.
“I will not support, and Redland City Council will not approve, any further subdivisions on the Southern Moreton Bay Islands,” he said.
“Existing rural properties cannot be subdivided, and residential lots owned by council are not being released to the market.”
He said council was instead encouraging residents to purchase adjoining blocks and merge lots, a move that reduced the total number of residential parcels and lowered rates liabilities for owners.
Council has also undertaken targeted land buy-back programs in the past, focusing on environmentally sensitive areas and locations with high bushfire risk, to protect natural values and reduce hazards.
While those targeted buy-backs were continuing, Cr Rendalls said a large-scale program aimed at reducing overall development was not financially viable.
“A mass buy-back program to significantly reduce development is not economically feasible given current property prices,” he said.
Cr Rendalls said he would soon release a report detailing housing growth rates across each of the SMBI islands, to provide greater transparency and context for residents concerned about future development.
The Southern Moreton Bay Islands include Russell, Macleay, Karragarra, Lamb and Peel islands, which have experienced steady population growth over recent decades as housing has gradually been built out on long-established residential lots.
