The Honourable Cameron Dick
Friday, May 11, 2018
All options on table to resist Turnbull’s planning and environmental vandalism at Birkdale
Minister for State Development, Manufacturing Infrastructure and Planning has announced the Queensland Government will consider all options to resist the Turnbull Government’s attempt to undermine State and Council plans by turning Federal land into housing at Birkdale.
The Minister expressed his disappointment while visiting the land today with State Member for Capalaba Don Brown, saying the Turnbull Government was failing the Redlands community by blatantly ignoring agreed plans for the land.
“The Federal LNP Member for Bowman, Andrew Laming, must now stand up for the people of Redlands against this planning and environmental vandalism,” Mr Dick said.
“The only way Mr Laming can put this matter to rest is to ensure the Federal LNP abandon their housing plan and transfer this land to the Council at zero cost to ratepayers.
“Why should the people of Redlands subsidise Malcolm Turnbull’s surplus while big banks get massive tax breaks?”
Mr Dick said that the Queensland Government’s South East Queensland regional plan, ShapingSEQ, agreed to by Council prohibits the use and subdivision of the land for residential housing.
“The Palaszczuk Government will not stand by while the Commonwealth tries to subvert the plan that has been agreed on by State and Council,” he said.
“As Planning Minister, I am putting any potential developer or purchasers of this site on notice – our Government does not support the development of this site for residential purposes and we will take all necessary actions to prevent it.
“This could include using reserve Ministerial powers such as calling a development in or making a temporary local planning instrument to prevent unsuitable development proceeding.”
Mr Dick also said that if the Turnbull Government chose to override the State and Council to force through inappropriate development, the state would put all options on the table.
“Any development would likely seek access to infrastructure such as energy distribution and roads,” he said.
“This site has a number of key issues that must be resolved, including vegetation, erosion, and waterways, and inappropriate development at this site is not supported by the community, the Council or the State.
“Given the presence of koalas in the area, any development of the site would also need to take into consideration the Commonwealth’s very own environmental protection laws.”
Member for Capalaba Don Brown said: “I know locals feel passionately about Birkdale Bushland. That is why over 1500 people signed my petition last year to keep this valuable land outside of the urban footprint.
“If it was not for our Government listening to locals and putting this land outside the urban footprint, I have no doubt that this land would be sold off to developers by the Federal Government, only to see them build 400 houses on the site.”
Detailed analysis by the Queensland Government and Redland City Council shows that Redland has sufficient land supply to accommodate housing until 2041.
In this regard, the site’s suitability to accommodate around 400 dwellings as proposed by the Federal Government’s latest Budgetary Paper is not supported by ShapingSEQ or the regulatory framework.
“It is now for Andrew Laming, the Federal Member for Bowman to quit bowing down to his Canberra masters, stand up for his local constituents and prevent the Commonwealth from committing planning and environmental vandalism at Birkdale,” Mr Dick said.
ENDS
http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2018/5/11/all-options-on-table-to-resist-turnbulls-planning-and-environmental-vandalism-at-birkdale
Media contact: Anika Hume 0447 320 039
KAG note: Koala sighted by koala researchers in the road reserve between the ASA and ACMA sites on the 11 May 2018.
