Development needs to be ‘ruled out’ on city green space
Residents of Brisbane’s oldest suburb are waging war to save heritage-listed gardens from a planned 13-storey student acommodation tower.
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RESIDENTS in the heart of Brisbane’s oldest suburb are waging a battle to save heritage-listed gardens from a 13-storey development.
The fight to save the Karl Langer gardens in Spring Hill began in 2018 when the owners of the land, the Deague Group, lodged an application with Brisbane City Council to develop a student accommodation tower on 487 Boundary St, Spring Hill.
Now nearly two years later, with revised plans being considered by Council, residents say it’s enough and time Council and the State Government’s heritage department rejected the application.
The site forms part of the former parcel of land known as the Main Roads Building and is registered on the Queensland Heritage Register.
The Deague Group, the Melbourne-based development company behind The Johnson hotel (the former Main Roads Building) and the Howard Smith Wharves’ flagship hotel Fantauzzo, now proposes to build a 13-storey, 234 room accommodation tower.
The intial proposal was 15 storeys and 248 rooms.
Australian Institute of Architects’ Queensland Chapter Heritage Committee Chair Michael Scott said Council should refuse the application “in its current form”.
“It has too big an impact on the State Listed heritage garden and the setting of the State Heritage Listed former Main Roads Building,” Mr Scott said.
“The Karl Langer designed building is a local landmark and the mature trees and landscaping around it are important to the streetscape of Boundary Street, running through the centre of Spring Hill.”
Spring Hill resident Kirsten Lovejoy, who opposed the original application, said “at what point will local and State Governments look at the intent of the heritage protection legislation and the needs of the community and just rule out any development on this site for good, the simple fix here is to make it public park again”.
“This utterly inappropriate development shouldn’t go ahead,” she said.
A Council spokesman said the application remains under assessment but “Council has raised issues with the proposal in its current form including concerns over heritage and intended use”.
“As a State Heritage place the application has also been referred to the State Government who are yet to provide Council a response,” the spokesman said.
“As part of the development of the Spring Hill Neighbourhood Plan three trees on the property have been protected by the Vegetation Protection Order.”
The Queensland Heritage register identifies “the western garden (487 Boundary St) is terraced into level areas, retained by concrete walls and linked with concrete stairs. It retains the original abstract layout and also contains mature trees, shrubs, grassed areas and original concrete benches.”
The Spring Hill Community Group (SHCG) wrote to residents during the recent public consultation period saying community should oppose the proposal because the “land is listed on both State and Local Heritage Registers as the Langer Gardens which provide setback and landscape shading to the heritage listed The Johnson hotel (the old Main Roads building) and has vegetation listed in the Significant Tree Register”.
“This is a clear case of Heritage choice - it is either heritage gardens or it is a 15 storey building.”
SHCG spokesman Ross Flutter said “SARA (State Assessment and Referral Agency) and the Council called for a resubmission which would take these matters into account, but the developer has re-lodged the plans altered cosmetically only”.
“This proposed development would destroy all heritage value of the land and replace it with an oversized student accommodation tenement.”
In documents submitted to Council Urbis, on behalf of the Deague Property Group, says the “design proposes to replicate the original Karl Langer garden as much as possible”.
Urbis said the architectural plans had been amended to addresses the heritage matters (raised by SARA and Council) including revising the design of the forecourt to “closer align with Langer’s original design including an increase in the general landscaping area to reflect the original Langer intent”.
“The proposed building is now substantially lower than the former Main Roads building …. modifications include significantly increased setbacks to the Boundary Street frontage retain the forecourt area on the site, alterations to the building design, removal of a part level to increase connection and sightlines between the forecourt and lower levels and modifications to the layout, design and landscaping of the forecourt.
A Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning spokesman said the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) was still assessing the application “including the implications of the proposal on the heritage values of the site, and has not expressed “in-principle” support for the proposal”.
“SARA’s assessment of the application involves technical advice from the Department of Environment and Science.
“The heritage values of the site are multifaceted and are outlined and described in the entry in the Queensland Heritage Register. The impacts of the proposal on these values is the core of SARA’s assessment.”
The spokesman said “in accordance with normal assessment practice, SARA advised the applicant of the provisions of State Code 14 that would be relevant to the assessment of this application.”
SARA is required to provide its assessment to Council by tomorrow.
Residents and Mr Scott also questioned the condition of the heritage place.
Mr Scott said the site should have a Conservation Management Plan and confirmed there was debate around care of the heritage place in accordance with State Government’s regulations relating to owners of a heritage place.
“We think development on the Langer designed western gardens needs to reflect the heritage values of this site,” Mr Scott said.
A Department of Environment and Science spokesman said an assessment of the State heritage place was conducted to have “it entered in the Queensland Heritage Register” in 2014.
He said it was the responsibility of the “owners of places on the Queensland Heritage Register to manage and maintain the Heritage Place”.
“There is no statutory requirement for a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) to be prepared for a State Heritage listed place,” he said.
“In this case, the owners of the property in question have not submitted a CMP to the department.”
The Deague Group and Urbis were contacted for comment but had not replied at time of publication.
What People are Saying
Labor candidate for Central Ward Judi Jabour.
I do not agree with the MCU. Green space for our community is at a premium because of the rampant development this LNP Council has encouraged. We have seen too much of our history fall to the bulldozers, it’s time to preserve our past, not destroy it.
Trina Massey Greens Candidate for Central Ward.
The Greens absolutely object to this proposal. We want to see Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government team up to firmly reject any proposal to develop this site.
The local community has been very clear for years that they need more publicly accessible green space and with the substantial heritage protections already in place for this site it just makes sense to open the heritage-listed garden back up for everyone to enjoy.
Councillor for Central Ward Vicki Howard
No development application is decided until Brisbane City Council’s planning officers have carefully assessed the proposal against the provisions of the City Plan, the neighbourhood plan and all submissions lodged.
Council has raised issues with the proposal in its current form including concerns over heritage and intended use, and I also share these concerns.
Submission to Council.
As a result of this design the building will be very close to the western wall of The Johnson, and spoil views which we as apartment Owners paid for … The proposed positioning of the building together with its height and size means that substantial impacts will arise regarding retention of the heritage values of The Johnson. The main impacts on the Johnsons complex will be shadowing, loss of views and aspect, overlooking/privacy impacts, and introducing an atmosphere of “crowding” into this local environment for occupants of The Johnson. This has adverse impacts in relation to Heritage values as property values. The proposed development provides for only 29 car spaces for over 200 rooming units. This is a gross under provision and likely to increase demand for on street residential parking in the area. It also contradicts overall design concepts for the Spring Hill neighbourhood plan code, provisions of the Heritage overly code, and parts of the Strategic Framework for the Brisbane Inner City.
Submission to Council.
The important design elements remain on this site, including modernist landscape components, significant native vegetation, seating, retaining walls and pathways and have always been known as the Langer western gardens. After years of documenting the heritage significance of this land and vegetation, the proposed development that completely destroys all of it should not be considered. It is not compatible with the known public values of the site and should be rejected in total. 3. Significant Vegetation Orders In 2017 the Council inspected the property and recognised the significance of the mature vegetation on the site. They immediately placed Significant Vegetation Orders on three of the biggest oldest trees to ensure they could not be arbitrarily destroyed. This proposed building would require their destruction and should not be approved.
Submission to Council.
Any building including the proposed building, erected on this open space unacceptably impacts on the significance of the garden and the setting of the former Main Roads Building adjacent. Conclusion: The garden should be retained as an open space and reinstated as far as is practicable to its original design for which Karl Langer’s plans survive
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