Queensland property: New planning laws to better protect old homes

NEW planning laws to better protect old homes from demolition before their preservation has been considered will be introduced to State Parliament tomorrow.

Protest at Jones St, Highgate Hill on February 8 over the demolition of pre-1911 homes.

NEW planning laws to better protect old homes from demolition before their preservation has been considered will be introduced to State Parliament tomorrow.

Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad announced her department had been working on a “major planning reform” for Queensland.

“I have listened to concerns of local government to allow Temporary Local Planning Instruments (TLPIs) to take effect once made by council, and ensured this is a feature of our government’s new planning bills,” Ms Trad said.

“The bills will be considered by the Parliament tomorrow.”

EARLIER: BRISBANE City Council has appealed for changes to planning laws after a pre-war home was approved for demolition while an application for its preservation was being considered.

Councillor Julian Simmons told a council meeting an application for the demolition of 16 Jones St, Highgate Hill, was received by council one day after councillors proposed to better-protect it through planning instruments.

The chairman of the Development Committee said the State Government first drew council’s attention to two pre-1900 homes on Jones St on April 20. He said the houses should have been protected under the City Plan but they had failed to be identified.

One of the historical homes on Jones Street in Highgate Hill.

“We bought a (Temporary Local Planning Instrument) to cover these two properties at the next possible council meeting on April 26,” Cr Simmons said, explaining the TLPI needed to be assessed by the State Government, which he said “responded incredibly swiftly, turning it around in a week”.

But it failed to be enough to save one of the homes after an application for its demolition was submitted on April 27.

Cr Simmons said he wrote a letter to Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad, requesting planning bills be amended to better-protect homes while they were being considered under TLPIs.

The homes were on the same street where several pre-1900 homes had applications for heritage listing knocked back last month.