Mayoral donor’s Jimboomba subdivision approval under investigation
The approval of a small-lot housing estate, on prime riverfront realty, is under investigation after concerns were raised about the process.
Logan
Don't miss out on the headlines from Logan. Followed categories will be added to My News.
SENIOR town planners working for a large southeast Queensland council are being investigated over their role in approving a small-lot riverfront housing estate.
Logan City Council Integrity Unit will review how Jimboomba developer FW Estate was granted approval to subdivide 126 hectares into 1196 lots in 2016.
CR LUTTON APOLOGISES OVER GASSMAN
The unit will assess whether senior planning officers may have had conflicts of interest when granting preliminary approval for Riverton Estate’s “low-density” housing development in Cusack Lane, Jimboomba.
The developers went to the Planning and Environment court in 2016 after a dispute with council over lot sizes.
The developer wanted blocks as small as 355 sqm but council wanted larger lots.
At the time, the state government regional plan did not allow that land to be developed for houses. The matter was resolved in mediation in 2016 and stage one started late last year.
The development has created friction with residents.
Jimboomba grazier Scott Nicholls said surveyors for the developer contacted him in 2015 and urged him to sell a portion of his Cusack Lane acreage property, adjoining the site.
Mr Nicholls, who runs Redwood, an Angus cattle, horse and hay farm, had leased part of the development site and had entered informal negotiations with the former owner to buy 182 hectares.
He had wanted to expand his business into the development site.
As part of that process, property valuers Herron Todd White valued the development property at $3.6 million.
“That valuation was in December 2015, but before I could buy it, another party bought it for $10 million,” Mr Nicholls said.
In a break with usual planning process, the council gave a town planning consultant approval to use council’s exclusive “one-stop shop process” to fast track any development applications for Cusack Lane.
The town planning consultant, Gassman Development Perspectives, won that privilege on May 13, 2015, five days before Logan’s town plan was updated and adopted and seven months before their client bought the land.
Former mayor John Freeman called for an investigation after documents on the electoral commission site showed Gassman donated $1500 to former mayor Luke Smith after he was elected.
“There are a range of issues with the way this planning application and development were approved and people believe it does not pass the pub test,” he said.
Gassman paid the council $80,000 in application fees in February 2016.
Mr Nicholls said Jimboomba residents felt left out after the court ruled developers could proceed without having to take into account the impact on the surrounding community.
Logan City Council was asked for further comment and Gassman declined to comment.
Police bust illicit firearm operation south of Brisbane, man in custody
Police have seized a number of illegal firearms after a raid south of Brisbane, arresting a man on 11 charges as part of a statewide crackdown on gun-related crime.
Mayor’s ultimatum: Pay more or lose services despite $211m net result
A southside mayor has triggered calls to abolish elected councillors after giving ratepayers a stark choice: pay more or lose services, despite his council forecasting a $211 million net result.