The 11 projects set to alter power balance between state and councils

The Crisafulli government is reviewing State Facilitated Development projects under the LNP’s pledge to restore power to councils.

The former Labor government used the SFD process to fast-track almost a dozen projects, ostensibly to provide more housing in areas where development applications might otherwise have been caught up in council.

But Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has accused Labor of undermining local government by “riding roughshod” over councils, sometimes in cases where there was local opposition to developments.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has (clockwise from top left) approved a 479-unit development at Indooroopilly, and a 440-unit development at Woolloongabba, but proposed blocking a 73-unit development at Redland Bay and blocked a 42-unit development at Tewantin. Other State Facilitated Development (SFD) projects remain under review.Credit: Queensland government

While the government has reviewed and approved four of the projects – at Toowoomba, Wakerley, Woolloongabba and Indooroopilly – it last week used new powers to block a project for the first time.

The project, a 42-unit development at Tewantin, and one of two given SFD status in Noosa Shire, will not go ahead in its current form. Bleijie had earlier called on the developer, who had incorporated affordable housing into the plans, to “take the community with them,” while the mayor said it needed to comply with “Noosa values”.

“We’ve been working with council to try to resolve some of the issues, but it’s clear that’s not possible with this development,” Bleijie said last week.

“Fast-tracking housing approvals shouldn’t come at the expense of council and community buy-in and consultation.”

Noosa Mayor Frank Wilkie welcomed the decision, saying the project should have been required to comply with the local plan and “Noosa values”.

“In this case, the action has prevented an over-height, over-scale development, with insufficient car parking and no guarantee of any genuinely affordable housing, from being imposed upon our community,” Wilkie said.

The developer will need to revise the plans and re-apply for council approval. The other project in the shire, a 196-unit block at Noosa Heads, remains under government review.

Former housing minister Meaghan Scanlon told parliament in February the housing crisis meant Labor had to fast-track projects, whereas the LNP was “about cancelling housing projects”.

Bleijie, however, said Labor had failed to engage with councils and consult the community.

“I will say this to every developer that has had an SFD approved under the former Labor government that ran roughshod over local governments: work with local governments in their planning schemes, and if you do not I am going to cancel them,” he told parliament last month.

In response to a question on notice in parliament, Bleijie would not be drawn on whether the government would redefine affordable housing, saying only that his department would work with councils “to find appropriate ways to progress development proposals, including those for affordable housing”.

Bleijie has also used separate powers to block an affordable housing project in his electorate and require the developer to submit new plans to council.

Premier David Crisafulli last month signed an agreement with the Local Government Association of Queensland making councils “equal partners” in the delivery of infrastructure and housing.

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