Railroaded: Trinder Park residents to lose homes as secret fast train plans revealed

Hours after Logan dad Mian Waqar was told his newly built five-bedroom home was ready to move in to, he received a letter telling him his dream home would be bulldozed.

Trinder Park train station is being overhauled as part of a new fast train line to the Gold Coast and 21 homes will be demolished.

A Logan dad found out his newly built family home would be demolished, just hours after receiving the keys – he is just one of 21 residents set to have their homes knocked down to make way for a new train line.

The group of southside residents were all shocked to receive a letter from Transport and Main Roads informing them a new train track linking Logan and the Gold Coast would go directly through their homes.

An excerpt from the state government letter to affected residents.

They also said the project was in the early stages, with no timetable and not yet fully funded.

Hours after father-of-two Mian Waqar was told his newly built five-bedroom Woodridge house was ready to move in to, he received the letter telling him his dream home would be bulldozed.

The new home in Acacia Rd, Woodridge, will be demolished to make way for the train line.

“It’s a brand-new house and took me a year to build and now I can’t even move in and I can’t sell it either,” he said.

“I got told I could move in by my builder and then I got a letter from the Transport and Main Roads Department telling me in a couple of years the house would be gone.”

Mr Waqar said he would never have proceeded with building the house if he had known the train line would charge through the property.

Father-of-two Mian Waqar will lose the new home he built after getting planning approval in January.

A private certifier approved the building works in January under Logan City Council’s planning scheme.

The council refused to comment on why the approval was granted less than eight months before the state government released its secret plans.

Woodridge resident Cheryl Love said she was terrified of being left homeless after receiving a letter telling her that her home of 38 years was in the way of the new train line.

Mrs Love said she was concerned about the state government’s promise of “market value” compensation.

Cheryl Love will lost her home when the train line to the Gold Coast is widened and straightened.

She said a neighbour received an unimproved capital valuation from a bank of $260,000 for their similar-sized property across the road.

“How am I supposed to buy a new house in this area with $260,000?” she said.

“The government representatives said there would be some sort of loan available but I can’t afford to get a loan.”

The state government has promised compensation, expected to mount into the millions to the 21 affected property owners.

A TransLink spokesman said it was unfortunate that properties would be resumed along the train line corridor.

“We have written to all impacted landholders about their options and have started meetings with them,” TransLink said.

“We approach this with understanding and compassion, and have a well-defined consultation and legal process that we follow.

“We are in the early stages of that process and are working respectfully with landholders.”

The project is currently in a community consultation phase until the end of October.