Ipswich community rallies to save iconic Ripley property Scott’s Farm

“Holy hell, they want to put it on our property”: They have owned the land for 130 years but the family behind an iconic Ripley were given just four days to lodge concerns after being told their land could be used for a primary school.

The Ipswich community is rallying behind a well-known local family after they were told “a very large part” of the farm they have owned for more than 130 years might be taken from them; and they had only four days to formally register their opposition.

Owners of iconic Ripley property Scott’s Farm, John and Eric Scott, have watched on in recent years as the land surrounding their 121-hectare home — once open and green — was redeveloped into housing estates and shopping complexes.

John said they themselves were “pestered and offered money” for blocks of their land, but they never engaged with developers and so proposals never eventuated.

John Scott (pictured) and his brother Eric are the current owners of Scott’s Farm at Ripley. Picture: Peter Cronin

That was until, out of the blue, the Scotts received a letter from the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning on Monday, April 4.

“(Economic Development Queensland) wish to advise that as part of [a] review, the strategic planning over your property is proposed to change, so invite you to research and as necessary provide a submission to EDQ ... prior to the closing of the notification period on the 8 April 2022,” the letter read.

A map of Ripley was included with the letter, which pictured Scott’s Farm with a yellow circle stamped over it. Per the map’s key, this means a primary school will be built on the property “subject to state agency acquisition”.

John said the magnitude of what the letter was proposing “took a while to sink in”.

“Initially, when I looked at (the letter), I thought ‘what the hell are they going to do?’,” he said.

“Then I looked at the map and I couldn’t identify our block of land. I thought ‘holy hell, they want to put it on our property’. It was a hell of a shock.

“I thought ‘well jeez, we’re going to have to do something quick’.”

With only four days to research and lodge their submissions, John said his family’s initial formal opposition to the proposal was “rough”.

The public notification period end date has since been pushed out to Friday April 22.

John said the section of land the school is proposed to be built on was the very first parcel his great-grandfather purchased in 1893. In the years since, a memorial, workshop, dairy, farmhouse, and cattleyards have been built atop it.

The memorial rock is a permanent tribute to Eric and John’s late parents and a sign of their family’s presence in Ripley. Picture: Rob Williams

The 16-tonne memorial rock, a tribute to John and Eric Scott’s late mother and father, was dragged by a 1920s Linn tractor to the top of a hill on Scott’s farm in 2015. The brothers’ grandparents called the old farmhouse home for many years.

“We’ve got an emotional attachment to the property of course, it being in the family for so long,” John said.

He said his family has also gone to great lengths to preserve trees and fauna on their land so that sugar gliders, koalas, kangaroos, and other wildlife could continue to live there after they lost much of their home to redevelopment.

EARLY DAYS: John and Eric Scott in the mid-1950s, sitting atop a load of hay on the same Linn tractor that they still use on the farm today. Picture: Contributed

John and Eric each have four children, and together have 21 grandchildren, who they would love to save their property for; as their father did for them, their grandfather did for their father, and their great-grandfather did for their grandfather.

But John said that while he and his family were desperate to protect their home and livelihood — given it is a working farm with cattle — he was no longer sure that was possible.

A member of the Scott family stated in an online post that the “annexing of this land will make it impossible for the farm to function”, while another said it would render much of the remaining property “completely inaccessible”.

A Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning spokesman said the “proposed locations of education facilities on the map are whole-of-site and only indicative for the purposes of public consultation”.

“The Department of Education does not anticipate that particular primary school will be required until after 2041,” he said.

“All these proposed locations are currently under public consultation from 11 March and until Friday 22 April 2022 to ensure people have adequate opportunity to comment.

“All submissions following the consultation period will be considered and provided a response.”

A petition fighting the development has received more than 4000 signatures in just 24 hours, with many supporters reflecting on their own memories of the farm — from Girls’ Brigade camps to weddings and church picnics — as well as its generous owners, the Scotts.