Resident concerned of properties in Joyner South being carved up by developers

Developers are circling one of the last remaining pockets of acreage properties in a booming region north of Brisbane, with some residents claiming they are being harassed by real estate agents who want to carve the land up in lots as small as 195sqm.

Oxford Street in Joyner could be carved up by developers. Picture: Marcel Baum

DEVELOPERS are circling one of the last remaining pockets of acreage properties in a booming region north of Brisbane as savvy investors wait to cash in.

Though some residents have reported being harassed by real estate agents trying to get them to sign contracts or options on their properties.

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Joyner South, situated between Gordons Crossing East and Samsonvale Rd, contains dozens of properties mostly about 2.4 acres (1ha) in size.

The site also contains a significant number of koala habitat trees and much of it is covered by an Environmental Offset Overlay, which makes it a “key ecological corridor”.

There is also an historic farmhouse in the development area built in 1865, which was part of the old Gordon family property from which “Gordons Crossing” got its name.

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Three applications to develop sections of the site into high density lots as small as 195 sqm have been submitted to the council, one of which was approved only two weeks ago while another was withdrawn last month.

A third application is pending.

A Joyner South resident told Pine Rivers Press she was concerned that properties in the area would fall like dominoes into the hands of developers.

“Once one of them goes, the rest will follow,” she said. “It will spread like a cancer.”

“There seems to be a big rush to get the developments done now. They have been going around saying ‘It’s full steam ahead. It’s all clear now for development’.

“A lot of people in this area are elderly, some are confused and stressed out. There are very few people standing up saying ‘You can’t do this’.

“These are our homes. Our community is ruined.”

Properties on Oxford Street in Joyner. Picture: Marcel Baum

The resident also said she felt developers were playing down the environmental significance of the area.

“They are saying it contains minimal ecological value and development would have low level impact on ecological values. What a joke.

“The place is full of koalas and other wildlife but no one seems concerned about it.

“And 200 sqm blocks, really? How does that fit in with the surrounding areas?”

Though Oxford St resident Bob Stevenson, who has lived in the area 47 years, said he wasn’t against the area being developed.

“I’m aware of the development proposals and I’m not ready to sell yet but I think it should be developed,” he said.

“The soil where I am is just clay, you can’t grow anything on it, and there are properties here changing hands all the time.

“You’ve got to put things into perspective, people have to live somewhere and it’s better to build infill in this area than if you were to put houses half way out to Dayboro.

“You can’t stop progress.”

Joyner South was listed in Moreton Bay Council’s draft Planning Scheme in 2014 as an Emerging Community Area that would eventually by rezoned as Next Generation Neighbourhood, allowing high density housing.

This designation triggered a land grab as savvy investors snapped up more than 20 properties over the following months, many of which settled before the approved planning scheme even came into affect, in February 2016.

The properties were selling for around $800,000, with a handful going for more than $1 million.

Joyner South residents at the time were getting inquiries from estate agents claiming to represent property developers who wanted to buy their land.

A letter from Cr Mick Gillam to residents dated September 2, 2014, stated that he understood “residents are being harassed by real estate agents”.

“One of the things that is being said by these people is that the council will make you move once the land is rezoned,” the letter stated.

“This is incorrect. Council will not make anybody move or sell their land.”

Developer Pointcorp joined the land grab, purchasing three adjacent properties at Joyner South that will soon become its 67-lot Flora estate.

The properties, totalling 3.06ha are at 23 Gordons Crossing Rd East (bought in October 2015 for $1,022,700), 25 Gordons Crossing Rd East (bought in September 2017 for $1,225,000) and 28 Regent St (also bought in September, 2017 for $1,652,800).

Pointcorp on June 3 of this year gained approval from Moreton Bay Council to develop the three sites.

Samsonvale Road in South Joyner. Picture: Marcel Baum

A company spokesman told Pine Rivers Press they would launch the development in the next couple of months.

He said the company did not plan on acquiring any more Joyner South properties at this stage and had no agreements with any other property owners in the area.

A company called AA2 Apartments, believed to be associated with Mosaic Property Group, submitted the other two development applications lodged in Joyner South, both of which overlap.

The company withdrew one of its applications though the initial one is still pending.

It covers 29 and 31 Oxford St and 370, 372, 374, 376 and 378 Samsonvale Rd.

All seven properties are owned by different people or companies, and based on data from Corelogic, four of the seven were purchased between 2014 and 2016.

Cr Gillam in a letter to residents in 2014, stated that the council did not want blocks in Joyner South to develop individually.

A fact sheet on the council’s website, written “several years ago”, states that a concept plan for the whole area would be required to bring forward any major development.

It also states the area did not have adequate infrastructure in place for development and “further detailed research and analysis is required”.

“Development in this area is to maintain a semirural character until such time as infrastructure is delivered and relevant site specific constraints are resolved,” the fact sheet stated.

On April 9 of this year, Cr Gillam requested the council hold a workshop to discuss initiation of a Drainage Investigation Area for the “Joyner South Development region”.

The motion was carried unanimously.

The council, meanwhile, will soon put forward a number of changes to its existing planning scheme, though emerging community and investigation areas in Warner and Joyner South are not part of the amendment.