Straddie divided over land banking and mayor’s letter
A row has erupted over an indigenous land banking arrangement for North Stradbroke Island, with the local community divided after a letter from a local mayor.
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Twenty-five parcels of land on North Stradbroke Island, earmarked to be rezoned for development, have sparked a heated row between the state government, a local council and an indigenous body.
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Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation, the body which manages the Native Title rights on the island, has accused Redland City Council of failing to include the land rezonings in its 2015 city plan, a claim the council said was inaccurate.
In a letter to QYAC this week, Redland mayor Karen Williams said her council could not include the land banking arrangements in its city plan without a state government directive.
Cr Williams also said she had been excluded from the State Government’s Ministerial Forum discussing indigenous land use policies on the island, a claim QYAC denies.
QYAC chief executive Cameron Costello said state government laws, introduced this month to allow the parcels of land to be rezoned for development, were necessary because of the council’s refusal to act and they were not drafted in secret.
He said the public had not been consulted because the council had delayed planning for the land affecting social, economic and environmental outcomes.
“If the council had included these Land Use Planning outcomes in the public exhibition of the draft Redlands City Plan, all of the residents of Minjerribah would know what was agreed by QYAC, State and the council,” Mr Costello said.
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“For Redland City Council to sit back and insist on a State direction, and then act surprised when the State acts, and publicly state they knew nothing about the particular form in which such a direction was issued is a deliberate diversion from the facts.
“It is very disappointing, as is the fact the mayor’s letter was published.”
Those claims were disputed by Cr Williams who said the council acted in line with state planning laws and had already met all population targets, when asked to include the land bank.
“The state did direct us to put six blocks of land into our planning scheme, which we did, because we have no choice,” Cr Williams said
“But the minister has always had the power in planning.”
Cr Williams said she only found out about the state government studies, which started in 2014, after they were completed in 2016.
She also said she had tried to contact Planning Minister Cameron Dick over the issue.
But Treasurer and Planning Minister Cameron Dick said former Planning Minister Jackie Trad wrote to the council in 2016 providing a full copy of all planning studies undertaken from 2014 to 2016.
He said council officers were on a steering committee established to oversee planning investigations.
Mr Dick also said Redland council had asked the State Government to take control of the matter, which it did in September when it issued the edict telling the council it had two years to include the land parcels in its City Plan after consulting the Redland community.
“Redland City Council has been involved in this matter since the High Court of Australia Native Title decision in 2011,” Mr Dick said.
“Council requested that the state government take the lead on planning decisions and following this request, government has implemented a TLPI (Temporary Local Planning Instrument) which is the most appropriate planning mechanism to enable further community consultation.”
Mr Dick said the TLPI planning law would allow council to consider development applications and further consult with the community.
Any development on the island will still be subjected to usual planning, consultation and development approvals.