Flinders View residents outraged at proposal of 140 townhouse complex

Residents of a busy suburb in Ipswich have expressed their concerns and fury at a proposal for 140 townhouses that will see land cleared and roads congested.

Azure Development has submitted an application for 140 townhouses in Flinders View. Developmenti

Locals have aired their frustrations on social media after a development application was lodged for 140 townhouses in an already congested suburb.

The Azure project townhouses have been proposed for 10 Astral Court in Flinders View, taking prime position behind the ever-growing Winston Glades Shopping Centre.

Azure Development has submitted an application for 140 townhouses in Flinders View. Developmenti

The application, lodged to Ipswich City Council on May 22 by Azure Development, details their plans for the project, which will see 348 trees cleared in the nature corridor that is home to dozens of species and increase the suburbs population in a way residents say the area can’t handle.

Additionally, the only proposed entrance to the facility is through one of the shopping centre carpark entrances — an already notoriously busy and difficult to navigate zone.

Access to development through entrance to shopping centre. Developmenti

“I know we need housing, but council lacks foresight in any development applications and their impact on already congested roads and infrastructure.” one resident said on Facebook.

“This is wrong and if the residents of Flinders View had half a brain they‘d fight this to the death,” wrote another,

Asides from voicing frustrations online, many local residents took to submitting objections to council and becoming involved in the council meeting on Thursday.

Many submissions to the council indicated a concern for the wildlife of the region.

This building application will remove more parkland walking tracks which i and hundreds of other people use daily as well as the wildlife which will suffer including kangaroos all types of birds including Ducks and Frog Mouth owls,” one said.

Artist's impression of a townhouse in the Azure Development. Developmenti

“We are losing too much wildlife habitat to these types of planning.

“Clearly I live in the area and am 100 per cent against this proposal.”

Many other expressed their concerns over flooding and traffic issues, in what is already a chronically congested area for road users.

“Ipswich Council has neglected Flinders View for many years. Council do not give decent services to the area, parks never mowed, narrow busy Ash Street can’t cater for extra traffic to the area,” one submission said.

Another concern that was discussed by many, was the possible intention for the townhouses to serve as public housing residences and fears that may lead to an increase in crime in the area.

The Winston Glades shopping centre is a hub for the community, but even without the new development, many residents had expressed concerns about access issues.

There only pedestrian access to the centre from one end of Reif Street is to walk through an underpass that acts a drainage system for a local park and several residents expressed concerns around this.

“It has been suggested that residents can use the underpass to cross Ash Street. That is okay if one doesn’t want to break a leg using it because of mud, branches etc,”

A spokesman for Azure Development said that the project seem to be well -supported and considered by the Ipswich City Council.

“Prior to lodging the development application, a pre-lodgment meeting was held with Ipswich City Council to understand the requirements of the application and we believe we have responded in accordance with the conversation,” they said.

“Overall, we received preliminary support and believe we have a well-considered, architecturally designed concept, which is accompanied by generous landscaping, delivering much needed housing diversity and options to the area.”

In response to resident concerns, the spokesman said many raised were thoroughly addressed in their application.

“The site falls within the Special Opportunity (SA10) Zone, which specifically identifies Medium Density Housing as a future land use. As such, the proposed is compatible with what was envisaged for the site,” they said.

“The site is zoned from medium density housing, which under the planning scheme, typically allows for 50-75 dwellings per hectare. The proposal results in an overall density of 46 dwellings per hectare, which is less than what is typically allowed.

“There were no issues raised in the pre-lodgment meeting to clear the vegetation.

“To achieve the development, earthworks will need to be undertaken on the site which will require clearing the land and trees. Financial contributions for the tree clearing will be made in accordance with the policy. There will be no clearing of the trees in the publicly owned neighbouring parkland.

“The development application has been supported by a Traffic Impact Assessment prepared by a RPEQ which demonstrates the proposal will not adversely impact traffic flow on the surrounding road infrastructure.”

A community meeting will be held at Blackstone Hall on June 1.

The development is impact assessable and council are expected to release a decision in July.

Artist's impression of the pool are in the Azure Development. Developmenti