Evidence shows small lot subdivisions are not creating good communities, says councillor

A southeast Queensland councillor says they are starting to see the negative impacts of new estates with small lot sizes.

Townhouse developments at Dakabin. Picture: Google

SMALL lot subdivisions are not creating good communities, according to a mayoral candidate at a southeast Queensland council.

The average size of a residential block of land in Moreton Bay has decreased almost 20 per cent in the past six years, according to a state government report.

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The Land Supply and Development Monitoring Report states the median lot size in Moreton Bay decreased from about 500sqm to 410 sqm from 2011/12 to 2017/18.

“This measure is indicative of an increase in dwelling densities in new urban subdivisions in Moreton Bay,” the report stated.

“Changes to Moreton Bay’s planning scheme over time have increased planned densities and allowed smaller lots.”

Meanwhile the vast majority of new houses built in Moreton Bay over that period were in Pine Rivers, at 58 per cent.

Moreton Bay councillor and mayor candidate Peter Flannery said the region was starting to see the negative impacts of new estates with small lot sizes.

“The message we’re getting back now from the community is that these smaller subdivision aren’t creating new communities,” he said.

Townhouses at Capestone Mango Hill. Picture: David Alexander

“It becomes a high rental area with transient populations and they’re not really generating good communities that people want to live in and stay, or that people can be proud of.

“I support more of having three or four storey unit sites, rather than cramming in smaller 200 square metre lots.

“We’re starting to see evidence now of what (type of communities) that is starting to create.”

The state government’s 2017 ShapingSEQ report stated Moreton Bay needed an extra 88,300 new dwellings by 2041 to house to an estimated 217,700 new residents over the same period.

Over the past seven years the Moreton Bay region has averaged 3683 new dwellings and 3415 lots each year.

A spokesman for the council said the council was on track to meet its housing targets.

“Council is creating a region of communities that residents are proud of, consistent with ShapingSEQ,” he said.

“One strategy to deliver this is being achieved by focusing higher density development in well-serviced existing urban areas, near to employment and public/active transport.

Peter Flannery Moreton Bay Regional Council.

“More people in these locations will boost the local economy, better use existing infrastructure networks and protect our region’s environmentally sensitive areas from urban encroachment.”

He said that according to the SEQ community attitudes survey conducted in 2016, around the time the current planning scheme began, 83 per cent of respondents perceived new development in their community to be better or the same as in the past.

He said the current planning scheme, meant to guide development in the region, was must keep pace with the changing environment of the community, and was therefore constantly being updated.

“Councils regularly review and amend their planning schemes to ensure they remain contemporary documents,” he said.

“This is standard practice in Queensland and the council planning scheme will likely undergo further amendments (beyond the current proposed amendment) through the remainder of its 10 year lifespan.”