Logan tree farmer protests plans to use flood plain for Gold Coast fast rail car park

Land owners south of Brisbane have an anxious wait to find out if their property will be taken and used for a car park for the fast rail network to the Gold Coast.

Logan farm owner Ailsa Thompson says her land, circled in red, was inappropriate for a fast train car park and would cause run-off and flooding problems if it were built up.

Plans to build a train station car park for the Logan to Gold Coast fast rail are being “refined” as concerns were revealed that a chosen site, south of Brisbane, was a flood plain and on farm land.

Transport and Main Roads has earmarked land along the proposed track and alerted hundreds of residents their land would be resumed for the project, to be built in time for the 2032 Olympics.

This month, residents living near Holmview train station were told that local land would be used so tracks between Kuraby and Beenleigh could be doubled.

But leaflets sent to residents do not specify where or how much land will be taken.

Logan River Tree Farm owner Ailsa Thompson said initial plans included bulldozing and then infilling some of her tree farm, which abuts the train line but not Holmview station.

Logan River Tree Farm owner Ailsa Thompson says the site proposed for a train station car park is often flooded and is now anxiously waiting to find out how much of her land will be affected by the project. Picture: Contributed

“I’m all for improving the rail network but building a carpark on farm land that regularly floods is ridiculous,” she said.

“The land they have chosen is not the best for a carpark to service the train station as it regularly floods and there is land closer to the existing car park that would be more suited.

“When I bought this land, I filled it in and was later forced to remove 10,000 cubic metres of that fill because the state said it would affect the water run-off into other properties.

“Now the state is going to build up and in-fill the site which will affect run-off and cause flooding on nearby land.

“This is paving paradise to put up a parking lot which breaches government planning rules.”

The entrance to the Logan River Tree Farm under flood. The gate is metres from the proposed train station car park. Picture: Contributed

Ms Thompson, whose property was swamped in the disastrous 2017 and 2022 floods, said she had not been consulted personally about the plans and only found out a section of her land was to be resumed from a leaflet posted to her home.

A Transport and Main Roads Department spokesman said TMR was currently refining the reference design for the project, which remained in the planning phase and was still subjected to further approvals by both federal and state governments.

The level crossing at Spanns Rd will be removed. Picture: Judith Kerr

“Additional land beyond the current Holmview station is required to widen the rail corridor and make the station accessible,” the spokesman said.

“Holmview station is undergoing a review as part of the reference design activities.

“These activities will confirm the land required, and the position and layout of the park ‘n’ ride as well as the number of spaces.”

TMR said it first contacted property owners impacted by the Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail project in August 2021 and provided impacted landowners with plans showing the extent of the use of their property.

The department also planned to engage with the community on the refined reference design.

A level crossing, at nearby Spanns Rd, will be removed as part of the project which will straighten track between Beenleigh and Kuraby to allow faster and more trains to operate.

Currently, trains on that stretch share a single track in each direction, limiting the number of peak services that can run.

Holmview train station in the centre of the photo with its current car park abutting a glass making business with Logan River Tree Farm at the top of the photo.

During peak periods, all-stop Beenleigh trains need to be held to one side for about four minutes to allow Gold Coast express trains to pass.

TMR said the Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail project would address that issue.

The billion-dollar plan to boost train services between the Gold Coast and Logan in time for the 2032 Olympics has already included property resumptions at Trinder Park.

A popular Beenleigh diner, known for its beatnik waitress signpost, will also be ripped down after more than 50 years to make way for the $2.6 billion fast train to the Gold Coast.

The former retro Chez’s Diner, on the corner of Logan River Rd and Hammel St at Beenleigh, less than 1km away from the Logan Tree Farm, will be levelled for the project.