Kruger St Army vows to fight on against development

A GROUP of Booval residents is vowing to up the ante by engaging a barrister for their fight against a planned townhouse development.

Concerned Kruger St residents Al Smith, Paul Denman, Phil Smith and Bill McCrea are worried about the proposed development. Picture: Rob Williams

A GROUP of Booval residents is vowing to up the ante by engaging a barrister for their fight against a planned townhouse development.

Just over 20 people from Kruger and Nimmo streets have already failed in a bid to amend developer Chris Zenonos' plans to build a 41-townhouse project bordering on their back fence lines.

The existing residents claim the development, known as "25 Nimmo St", is too close to existing properties and could cause flooding problems.

YOUR SAY: Call for council to reconsider townhouse plan

Several months ago they approached Mr Zenonos and Ipswich City Council requesting a larger buffer zone between the old properties and the new townhouses - an alteration which would also involve the preservation of trees which are known habitat for parrots and other wildlife.

Council and the developer, however, have knocked back the residents' suggested changes.

The development already has council approval and there is apparently no obligation to make any changes to address the concerns of the community.

In his response to the request for a larger buffer zone, Mr Zenonos said there was no existing easement between the approved development site and existing properties and that he was under no obligation to create one.

Council, meanwhile, simply explained that it had no "lawful ability" to make changes.

Kruger St resident Bill McCrea said the decision wouldn't be taken lying down, and the group was ready to engage a barrister to represent them.

Another community meeting has been planned and Cr Bruce Casos has been invited.

Mr Casos said he intended to attend the meeting but would not comment yesterday.

"We asked that a six-metre buffer be maintained; that would also solve the storm water run-off issues we are worried about because there wouldn't be that 4.5m retaining wall against our back fences," Mr McCrea said.

"It would also save about 13 trees. Of course, it would also reduce the number of town houses they can build on the site, which is why they said no."

Mr Zenonos is an Ipswich-born developer whose family has run several businesses in the area over the last few decades.

He owns the Kangaroo Point Holiday Apartments but said he was interested in developing in Ipswich because it was a growth hot spot.

Although he could not be contacted for comment yesterday, Mr Zenonos has previously told the QT that the large retaining wall that would be built on the site would be designed to deal with stormwater. "The proposed retaining walls on the southern boundary will be designed, constructed, and structurally certified by an engineer to appropriately deal with stormwater drainage," he said.