Fears Brisbane City Council apology to 857 residents after mail blunder too late

Hundreds of residents prematurely warned their homes could be resumed for parkland have received apology letters from Brisbane City Council, but a property valuer says that might not be enough.

More than 800 residents have received apology letters from Brisbane City Council reassuring them that their homes will not be resumed to make way for parklands.

It follows a major mailout blunder by the council, which earlier this month sent out letters warning householders in Aspley, Kedron, Carina, Everton Park and Holland Park West their houses could be purchased.

But an expert property valuer says the damage has already been done and residents who received the letter now had a “permanent blight” on their properties, which potentially devalued “overnight”.

Confusing letters referring to various existing park upgrades and plans for new parks were sent to 875 properties on August 3, but did not specify individual lot addresses that may be impacted.

The 875 residents who received letters relating to parks were part of nearly 15,000 recipients informed of draft changes to council’s Local Government Infrastructure Plan.

The apology letter sent to 875 residents from Brisbane City Council assuring them council has "no intention" to resume their properties for park space. Supplied by BCC.

Following public outcry, council conceded the parks’ letters were poorly worded and promised to issue a clarification letter to residents, which have landed in letterboxes this week.

The letter signed by council’s divisional manager for city planning and sustainability David Chick, states:

“Firstly, I want to sincerely apologise for any distress this letter may have caused and acknowledge the contents were highly technical and lacked clarity.

“Rest assured; Council has no intention to resume your home for a new park. Council’s standard practice when creating new parks is to purchase homes when they become available on the market. However, this will not be occurring during the current housing supply shortage.

“The letter should have more clearly stated this, while also explaining this process of long-term infrastructure planning.”

Brisbane-based property valuer Mal Missingham who has more than 30 years of experience in valuation and resumption, said council’s mistake had caused irreversible damage with properties potentially devalued overnight due to the letter mistake, labelling it as “incomprehensible” and “morally wrong”.

“Properties have each lost 20-25 per cent in value overnight due to the news coverage,” he said.

Bruce Kluck from Mayfair St at Carina talked to the Courier-Mail after receiving the initial letter from council. Picture David Clark

“While there are no formal plans currently in place, it is clear that Brisbane City Council has future interests in these properties.

“Now that the information has gone out into the public domain, it’s a permanent blight on their properties.”

Only 196 of the 875 parks letters referred to new proposals while the remainder were about the removal, alteration or deferral of a previous proposal.

One of those 196 residents was Kedron homeowner Don Lindsay, who confirmed he had received his apology letter in the mail on Wednesday.

“It certainly has given us relief and more certainty going forward,” he said.

But Mr Lindsay said he remained unsure as to how his property may be affected by the letter bungle in future, should he try to sell.

Matt Edwards of Everton Park was one of the residents to receive the original letter. Picture: David Clark

“Should we move from Kedron and sell this particularly property, in relation to the media attention and everything else, will that have an impact for us and potentially future buyers,” he said.

“In our case we’re planning of keeping a copy of the letter.”

Mr Lindsay also questioned what would happen to residents involved in the park proposals once the housing crisis was over.

“When there is no longer a housing supply shortage, what are the rules of engagement for council to acquire homes?”