Masterol Foods at Carole Park has taken exception to conditions placed on its development application with Ipswich City Council

An Ipswich business has been told it must contribute nearly $13,000 for a footpath if it wants approval for a shed extension so that its client base can continue to grow.

Masterol Foods and Veedol Lubricants manager David Liston outside the Carole Park facility that has been subject to an ongoing dispute over a development application.

A MAJOR Ipswich cooking oil and machine lubricant manufacturer has had expansion plans put on hold for three years over a stoush with the council.

Masterol Foods and Veedol Lubricants, which operates out of a large shed at Antimony St in Carole Park, is a major supplier to the food industry while also chasing lucrative contracts with defence.

Manager David Liston said the business supplied about 350,000 litres of oil a month across the world, including NZ and Singapore.

While approval for an 18m extension to the main workshed was granted in July 2018, it was the conditions on the approval the company took exception to.

Mr Liston said the two major issues were the requirements for Masterol/Veedol to make a $12,600 contribution towards a footpath on Antimony St, in addition to the creation of additional gardens along the business’s Boundary Rd frontage.

“We are ready to move equipment into the extended part of the shed and start some more specialised work, but we are unable to use it until we get the approval,” Mr Liston said.

“This has been held up for two years.”

The company has already agreed to rebuild a car park and create a new driveway as part of the conditions of the approval.

This work is completed.

Mr Liston said they forked out $1700 for traffic management while work to the kerb was carried out.

“All that’s left is this 40m footpath,” he said.

“The council has asked us for a $12,600 contribution but they also told us that once we make that contribution, it does not necessarily mean they will actually build the footpath.

“We obtained our own quote for the same length of footpath and it came in at $5000.”

Mr Liston said the request for a garden to be built along the Boundary Rd fence would take up valuable turning space for trucks and also block the southern entrance.

Masterol has submitted an application to change the conditions but it was refused.

Mayor Teresa Harding confirmed the council had requested the contribution to the footpath, but that this was a standard condition placed on the type of development application Masterol had submitted.

“Like many development approvals, it came with a number of conditions that ensure the development aligns with our Planning Scheme and the expectations of the Ipswich community,” Ms Harding said.

“One of these conditions requires the developer to make a contribution proportionate to the cost of the footpath construction for their development, instead of the ratepayer bearing this cost.

“While it may not result in the immediate delivery of a footpath, it forms part of Council’s Works Program and ensures that footpaths are delivered in a consistent and contiguous way.

“Masterol/Veedol had come back to Council with an independent quote for construction of a footpath at a cost of $5,000, however, this quote had not included any associated costs such as RPEQ design, engineering construction supervision, maintenance and reinstatement of the disturbed verge.

“The provision of Ipswich City Council’s Planning Scheme that outlines the requirements for footpath contributions was adopted in 2009. It has been a requirement of Council’s Planning Scheme for many years prior to Masterol/Veedol’s development approval.”