Logan ratepayers demand answers on vacant Alma Park Zoo land

A BLOCK of council-owned land, once earmarked for a zoo but left vacant for more than eight years, was the subject of discussion at a noisy ratepayer forum on the weekend.

A BLOCK of council-owned land, once earmarked for a zoo but left vacant for more than eight years, was the subject of discussion at the weekend’s Logan Ratepayer Association meeting.

Rates, an investment arm of the council, sporting precincts and the city’s budget for the next financial year, were some of the other curly topics raised.

A crowd of about 30 heard how land, on the Pacific Highway at Loganholme, was subject to a court battle but had been vacant and not earning money for ratepayers since 2009.

The former Antiques Style Building at Loganholme has been vacant for more than eight years.

Former mayor John Freeman told the group it was his idea, when he was mayor, to buy the site and turn it into an economic precinct.

“Council owned most of the land down to the river and this block was the missing link,” he said. He also spoke on the advantages of council’s property investment arm Logan Invest.

“As an investment arm of council, ratepayers’ money and city assets are invested and, you could say, the ratepayers are the shareholders,” he said.

Cr Jon Raven assured the meeting Invest Logan had the highest level of corporate governance but had no projects on its books yet.

Council’s director of Organisational Services Robert Strachan and Treasurer Trevina Schwarz fielded questions on this year’s budget and told the meeting council’s debt ratio was about $180 million.

Cr Lisa Bradley said one of the reasons she voted against the budget was because she believed it wasn’t fair for the whole city as it excluded Lowe Oval from a $2 million design plan.

She said Lowe Oval was the first precinct to be considered for masterplanning but was the first to be excluded from the budget.

“I believe removing Lowe Oval from the budget is retribution for not being aligned with the right faction in council because four other precincts, which were considered after Lowe Oval, received funding.”

However, Cr Jon Raven said Lowe Oval was not included in the budget this time around because the four other precincts needed to be developed first so tenants from Lowe Oval had somewhere to go, while that precinct was redeveloped.