Redland City Council will lodge a submission in response to the state government’s updated SEQ Regional Plan, as housing supply and diversity re-emerges as a sticking point between the two levels of government.
The region-shaping document, released last Wednesday, signals the state government’s intent to increase the city’s housing stock by 31 per cent – or 20,000 dwellings – over the next two decades.
Redlands mayor Karen Williams took a swipe at the government over the plan, claiming it was a move to “take over the planning function of local governments by stealth”.
She also questioned the amount of time state planners spent consulting face-to-face with councils on the plan, claiming Redlands had been afforded just two hours.
Council officers will review the draft document and present a report at the September general meeting, where council will confirm its formal submission.
“We have asked the Queensland Government for their modelling criteria and assumptions for population growth and they have been unwilling to provide it,” Cr Williams said.
Cr Williams said Redlands already had enough land to more than double the dwelling target set out in the updated SEQ plan.
“The Queensland Government’s own land supply data indicates the Redlands can already accommodate 41,600 new dwellings,” she said.
“The draft SEQ Regional Plan indicates that Redland City needs to provide 20,000 dwellings, so we have more than sufficient supply and question the need to put an additional 900 hectares of land into the urban footprint.
“Any future population growth in the city should be supported by a state government commitment to fund and deliver critical state infrastructure upgrades.”
Tension over the Redlands housing plan culminated in the state government taking control of the city’s housing strategy in September last year.
Planning Minister Steven Miles said at the time that he had been left with no choice but to commandeer the strategy after council failed to update its plan following repeated requests.
The state government has said council’s City Plan was based on outdated population data from 2006 and did not provide enough housing supply or diversity to address population growth.
But council has repeatedly rejected this assertion, claiming that it was already achieving its dwelling targets.
It has said the takeover was premature and a more appropriate time to undertake the work would have been in the lead up to the next Redland City Plan review, which was expected to take place in 2025.
A planning department spokeswoman said new land use and transport modelling was used to determine the suitability, sizing and future growth needs across the entire region.
“This improved evidence base ensures realistic dwelling supply targets for local government areas are established,” she said.
“Alongside the draft Shaping SEQ 2023 update, the department is also preparing the Redland Housing Supply and Diversity Strategy that will determine how much housing and what type of housing is needed to support the growing population and better align with the changing needs of households.
“The population is evolving and housing types in Redland City are not currently diverse enough to meet this evolution.”
Cr Williams has said previously that council’s intent for Southern Thornlands includes a mixed industry business area for employment opportunities and rural residential living.
Other councillors to reject the updated SEQ Regional Plan as a “light touch review” were Julie Talty, Peter Mitchell and Rowanne McKenzie.
