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A bayside councillor has urged her colleagues to knock back a housing development proposal east of Brisbane on land currently home to a chicken farm and instead push for the development of tourism, sport and recreation.
Redlands councillor Rowanne McKenzie will file a notice of motion at a meeting next week asking the council to vote for acting mayor Julie Talty to write to the deputy premier supporting an investigation into adding the land at Mount Cotton to the state’s urban footprint.
Landholders in the area include the owner of the local paper Warren Pryde, Karreman Quarries owner Dirk Karreman, and Darwalla, a poultry company that partially owns Golden Cockerel.
Developer Stephen Williams from Wingate Properties, and director of the Redlands firm Fiteni, Adam Souter, have both met with council about the project, but their projects are not necessarily linked.
Fiteni largely develops housing, something McKenzie was at pains to eliminate from any project in the area.
“Approximately 90 per cent of council’s rate revenue is derived from residential properties, creating a heavy reliance on households to fund core services and infrastructure,” she wrote on the note attached to the motion, published with the meeting agenda.
“At the same time, more than half of the local workforce leaves the city each day to access employment elsewhere.
“This combination limits the city’s ability to build a balanced, resilient economy and constrains long-term financial sustainability.”
The area is already home to the Sirromet Winery, which doubles as a venue for large music events, further cementing it as a site that tourism-based development could build on.
The motion also noted the land is not supported by core infrastructure, particularly sewers, which has been an issue for new developments in the council in the past.
Late last year, council insiders told this masthead ratepayers would need to cough up at least $35 million a year to catch up on sewage underspending, and a Fiteni associated development called Shoreline was only connected to the sewage system last year after being approved without it in 2015.
The state is currently reviewing the South East Queensland Regional Plan, a process McKenzie is hoping the land around the chicken farm will be part of.
There had been speculation the area could targeted by the state government as a priority development area, of which there are already three in Redlands, including a large housing development at Southern Thornlands.
The regional plan review comes as the state government pushes for more housing developments across south-east Queensland in a bid to boost supply and improve affordability.
The region’s population is expected to swell from the current 3.8 million to 6 million by 2046.
Council will vote on the motion on Wednesday.
Williams and Souter were contacted for comment.
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