Concerns as state ‘dictates’ extra 45,000 residents for Redland city but no infrastructure funding

The state has ordered a bayside council to increase its housing supply by 30 per cent to accommodate an extra 45,192 residents by 2046 and has slashed the minimum lot size to help with the move.

An artist’s impression of the Lendlease Shoreline ‘greenfield’ housing estate at Redland Bay which will eventually be home to more than 20,000 people. Picture: Shoreline

The state government has dictated an ambitious housing strategy to a bayside council, after detecting a 5000-lot housing shortfall in the area’s existing supply strategy.

Redland City Council received the long-awaited Redland Housing Strategy 2024-2046 this week, after the state government controversially took over the city’s planning in 2022, claiming the council had failed to plan enough housing.

The new strategy is a shift in policy and includes 18 actions the state mandated for the council to complete over the next 22 years including accommodating 45,192 new residents, a figure which is 26,000 more people than the current strategy.

It will see the city become home to a total of 212,000 people, an increase of 15.6 per cent from today’s 166,808 residents.

To meet the projected population accommodation target, the document requires Redland to build an extra 18,787 dwellings, which will result in 30 per cent more than today’s 65,213 houses.

Under terms of the document, the city must have 84,800 dwellings by 2046.

The now superseded population and housing targets set for Redland with the state this week increasing the original target of 79,912 dwellings to 84,800 by 2046

But a bigger surprise included in the 35-page document, forces Redland to drop the minimum lot size in residential areas from 400 sqm to 250 sqm.

The state housing document said the Redland market was not meeting demand for diverse housing types, such as high-density units, with developers often preferring to invest in greenfield sites, where smaller lot sizes would allow large-scale single dwellings.

The council appeared to be caught off guard with the document’s claims that the city needed to increase its total dwelling supply to 84,800 adding an extra 5000 dwellings to its current 2046 supply target of 79,386.

The strategy was handed to the council days after the ACCC gave the green light to international conglomerate Stockland-Supalai to proceed with the takeover of Lendlease’s housing estates, which includes the massive Shoreline development in Redland.

The push for the additional dwelling supply sparked debate among local officials and residents, with some describing the directive as “dictatorial”.

Redland councillor Paul Golle said the council had been on track to meet all of its housing targets and questioned the state government’s supply figures.

Cr Golle said the new state-forced “bogus” strategy was politically motivated and thrust on the council after lobbying from a handful of southern Thornlands landowners who wanted to profit from subdivision.

“Under the council’s legitimate housing strategy, based on current dwelling figures of about 65,000 dwellings, Redland was on track to meet the state’s original target of 79,000 by 2046 before the state intervention,” Cr Golle said.

An ACCC ruling last month has allowed a number of large housing estate projects to proceed under a new Stockland-led entity. This is where the massive estates will be built.

“This week, it was a surprise to find out the state wants the council to push up the population numbers to 84,800, which it can dictate because it has taken over the city’s planning scheme.

“The state thrust this bogus housing strategy into our laps and said ‘here you go, do it or else’.

“There will be serious ramifications as ‘affordable houses’ are built using cheaper materials on smaller lots without any guarantee the end product will be in a price range that our current residents can afford.

“Market forces and location will ultimately determine property values – not the bricks and mortar.”

Cr Golle said landowners in southern Thornlands had lobbied the state government for more than 15 years and successfully influenced state planning decisions.

But a Housing Department spokesman defended the document and said it was a step towards providing more affordable and diversified accommodation in Redlands.

The state government and the council locked horns in January over an “affordable” unit project in Cleveland, which resulted in the Planning and Environment Court allowing the development despite Redland council’s protests.

An affordable housing unit project in Cleveland was the subject of a Planning and Environment Court case with developer Kevin Nolan being given the right to proceed, despite Redland council protests. Picture: Contributed

The Housing Department spokesman said the new strategy aimed to boost housing density and diversity, improve affordability, and review master planning in Cleveland and Capalaba.

“Redlands needs more affordable homes such as units and townhouses so people’s housing can be responsive to their lifestyle needs and they are not forced to move away from their community because of a lack of housing choice,” the spokesman said.

“While demand has shifted to smaller homes that suit the needs of smaller and older households, as well as renters and low-income earners, there are currently limited options.

“Detached dwellings, like houses, make up 83 per cent of stock in Redland and more than half of homes in the region have four or more bedrooms – which does not suit all types of buyers.”

Redland council refused to comment.

But councillor Rowanne McKenzie said there was a lack of infrastructure such as sewerage, buses, roads, hospitals, and schools planned to back up the massive growth in greenfield sites.

“It’s all good and well for the state to dictate our growth but the state needs to deliver on its responsibilities with the supporting infrastructure that’s already falling short of what we need now,” Cr McKenzie said.

“The city needs the state to provide the supporting infrastructure to cope with the state’s required growth.

“Major transport corridors in and out of the city need upgrading including Cleveland-Redland Bay Rd, Rickertt Rd, Duncan Rd and Mt Cotton Rd.

“The Cleveland train line needs duplication, parking facilities need to be increased at public transport stations and increased public transport services are required to adequately ease congestion.”

A former chicken farm in Redland Bay will soon be home to more than 10,000 people but there is no sewage and no public state plans for transport or other infrastructure. Picture: Judith Kerr

The state government’s push for more housing to be built in Redland coincided favourably with this week’s release of ABS data which showed Queensland leading the way in a home loan resurgence.

In the Sunshine State, owner-occupier loans were up 16.8 per cent and investor loans were up 34.2 per cent, compared to August 2023 with the overall value of new home loans surging more than 40 per cent, or an extra $2 billion.

In contrast, New South Wales had a more modest year-on-year overall mortgage increase of 19 per cent while Victoria reported an 11.4 per cent rise.