COMMUNITY pressure is mounting for Mount Cotton and Sheldon to be moved out of the Logan-based state seat of Springwood, with multiple submissions to the Queensland Redistribution Commission arguing the suburbs have stronger ties to Redland City.
Seven community submissions said the two localities had little in common with the rest of Springwood, which is centred around Logan suburbs such as Rochedale South, Daisy Hill and Shailer Park.
Residents argued that schools, health services, transport and other civic infrastructure for Mount Cotton and Sheldon were overwhelmingly based in Redland City, not Logan.
John Talty, a Mount Cotton resident, said Mount Cotton and Sheldon residents were “poorly represented” in Springwood.
“They share none of the same schools or civic infrastructure and are poorly represented by an MP that concentrates most effort on the Logan majority,” Mr Talty wrote.
Another Mount Cotton resident, Abraham Gubler, urged the Queensland Redistribution Commission to reunite Sheldon and Mount Cotton with Redland City electorates, arguing the current arrangement dilutes local representation and creates “unnatural” boundaries.
In a detailed six-page submission, Mr Gubler said about 6000 electors from the two suburbs were “siphoned off” into the Logan-based seat of Springwood despite sharing schools, health services, transport and other infrastructure with the Redlands.
“The only common service shared across the electorate of Springwood is the state member of parliament,” Mr Gubler wrote.
The Commission confirmed that this was not the first time the issue had been raised, with similar objections made during the 2017 redistribution.
The current redistribution is required to ensure all 93 Queensland electorates remain within 10 per cent of the state average quota of 40,264 voters, while also considering community connections and local government boundaries.
Analysis suggests that, if Mount Cotton and Sheldon’s 6300 voters were returned to Redland City, the region’s total enrolment of about 123,000 could support three Redlands-based electorates, all within quota.
As of May 2025, Oodgeroo was 12 per cent under quota, Capalaba 6 per cent under and Redlands almost 8 per cent over.
Projections show the imbalances widening by 2032 unless boundaries are adjusted.
Suggestions to fix the imbalance include moving Mount Cotton and Sheldon into Redlands or Capalaba, while shifting parts of Thornlands and Birkdale between neighbouring seats.
Mr Gubler’s preferred option would move the Southern Moreton Bay Islands into Oodgeroo, Sheldon into Capalaba and Mount Cotton into Redlands, creating what he described as “three balanced electorates covering a distinct wider area and well placed to meet growth and governance challenges”.
The LNP’s submission backed moving Sheldon into Capalaba and Mount Cotton into Redlands, while also suggesting Birkdale be shifted into Capalaba and extra streets from Thornlands moved into Oodgeroo.
The ALP’s submission proposed transferring some or all of Thornlands from Redlands into Oodgeroo to help balance voter numbers, with parts of Oodgeroo in the north then shifted into Capalaba.
Redland City Councillor Rowanne McKenzie believes Redland Bay and the Southern Moreton Bay Islands should instead be moved into Springwood due to rapid growth pressures in the city.
“It’s simply numbers,” she said.
“The seat of Redlands has too many voters, so the boundary needs to change.”
The Redistribution Commission will now consider the suggestions before releasing its draft boundaries later this year.
