An application to develop the pineapple farm at Strathpine has been submitted to the council

The last remaining crop farm in a suburb north of Brisbane has been sold to a housing developer.

Pineapple farm at 84 Samsonvale Rd, Strathpine. The farm has been sold to developer Peet for $18.5 million. Picture: Google

THE pineapple farm in Strathpine, owned by one of the region’s early pioneering families, has harvested its last crop after being sold to a developer.

Developer Peet on April 15 applied to develop the farm at 84 Samsonvale Rd along with sections of bushland at John Bray Park, which contain evidence of koala habitation.

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The company last month lodged an application with Moreton Bay Regional Council to establish a 108-lot housing development, which also contains potential for future development.

Peet bought the 15.73ha pineapple farm on January 31 for $18.5 million. It was valued at $12m on January 31 this year.

The property had been in the Blatchford family for more than 80 years, after it was bought by Percy Blatchford in January 1937.

Percy and his wife Lily (nee Leitch, another early pioneering family) established the first small crops farm in the area.

The pineapple farm at 84 Samsonvale Rd, Strathpine has been sold to developer Peet for $18.5 million. Picture: Evan Morgan

Pineapples were grown on the farm and would be put in a box on the footpath in front of their home for purchase.

People would come from miles around to buy the fresh pineapples, via an honour system.

The Blatchford family settled in the Pine Rivers area in Murrumba Downs and Strathpine and have reserves and parks named after them.

If approved by the council, Peet would develop the property in two stages.

Stage 1 consists of 84 residential lots, the majority of which vary in size between 300-400 sqm.

Access is from 84 Samsonvale Rd to the south with links to Piccadilly St, Sutherland Drv and Melba Drv.

A new road would be constructed north of Four Mile Creek as part of Stage 2 of the development, linking Walsham St and Paxton Crt and includes a further 24 lots backing onto the established housing at Sovereign Ave.

Stage 2 lot sizes vary from 396-500 sqm.

Two further lots, a 6802 sqm block between Walsham and Durham Cres and an 8402 sqm block to the immediate south of Four Mile Creek, have been marked for future development.

The planning report prepared by PeakUrban Planning and Surveying stated about 49 per cent of the site was proposed as open space in the form of a 1.1ha local park fronting Samsonvale Rd, and a 6.6ha District Park at the centre of the site, around Four Mile Creek.

“Ultimately, the District Park will be suitably embellished with appropriate facilities, which is to be designed and constructed by Council,” the report stated.

The pineapple farm at 84 Samsonvale Rd Strathpine has been sold to a developer. Picture: Google

A Koala Assessment Report was carried out by Saunders Haville Group as part of the application and found a single koala on the site, just south of the creek, as well as a small number of scats.

The proposed road and housing north of the creek would require destruction of a number of mature koala habitat trees.

“While connectivity is fragmented, vegetation along Four Mile Creek, which includes

NJKHTs (non-juvenile koala habitat trees), is considered sub-optimal habitat which would provide safe refuge for transient koalas,” the report stated.

“But due to surrounding threats and fragmentation it is not considered to provide desirable or permanent habitat for koalas.

“The balance of the site is not considered to be supportive of koala habitat.”

It stated no dwellings or roads were proposed within mapped bushland and all NJKHTs within the mapped bushland would be retained.

“The Four Mile Creek corridor will be retained as part of the development to maintain movement opportunities and safe refuge for Koala should they venture on the site,” the report stated.

Access into the development from the southern side would likely to involve an upgrade of Samsonvale Rd.

Resident Jeff Mears commented on the development, saying there was growing concern about the impact it would have on traffic.

“The Samsonvale Road (end) looks like having three residential streets with access and two streets feeding to one set of lights already seeing heavy loads due to the railway station,” he wrote.

“And to make the situation worse there are not enough carparking spaces at the station so most of the streets already have parked cars turning the streets into one lane.

“Hopefully this will be addressed at the planning stage of the development.”

Peet on May 30 applied to the council for a stop period under the Development Assessment Rules, which expires in June 28.

The balance of the assessment period would resume after that date.