Court amends heritage boundary for Redland community hub and Olympic venue
Less than a hectare of land has been removed from the state’s heritage register after a court ruling over a community hub south of Brisbane which will include a proposed Olympic venue.
Redlands Coast
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Plans to develop an Olympic venue and a community hub south of Brisbane will proceed despite a court ruling allowing part of the site to remain under heritage listing.
The Planning and Environment Court removed 0.85ha of land from the state’s Heritage Register this week after Redland City Council complained about the listing and lodged an appeal in April last year.
The court ruling effectively redrew protective state heritage listing boundaries at the site, which is part of a council and state government project to build an Olympic and community hub.
After the court-led agreement between Redland City Council and the Heritage Council this week, the total heritage listed land at the entire site dropped from approximately 4.2ha originally, to approximately 3.34ha, according to documents from the Department of Environment and Science.
The council said some of the original listed land was insignificant and was needed for part of the elaborate $300 million precinct, which includes the historic Willards Farm on Old Cleveland Road East.
The council lodged its complaint after revealing a master plan for the 62ha precinct which showed a ring road and parking for 800 cars near the Willards Farm site.
Judge Amanda McDonnell reduced the heritage boundary at the Old Cleveland Road East farm site but kept the historic Willards Farm listing intact and included a 19th century well on the register.
A 19th century cattle dipping station and a Morse code hut, also within the master plan, are not included for heritage protection.
The original Queensland Heritage Council listing in March 2022 came after lobbying from the Birkdale Progress Association, which claimed the site was an integral part of Queensland history and may include significant cultural and indigenous sites.
Progress Association president Pam Spence said she was disappointed that this week’s court ruling removed land from the register and said she was sceptical that the decision would stop future development.
She said the council had also reduced the amount of land set aside for conservation in the 62ha precinct from 44ha to 36ha.
However, she said the heritage listing would make it difficult for the council or state to build on the land, despite proposals for a link from Willards Farm to the proposed Olympic venue about 2km away.
“The decision shows that the Heritage Council takes our history seriously,” she said.
“But the council is still proposing to get special planning control over the site, through a local government infrastructure designation, which would allow it to override many regulations with no further development approvals needed.
“We are still concerned that if the council builds a road on some of the site, the potential to locate any new artefacts of significant indigenous and cultural heritage will be destroyed.
“To use heritage land, the council will have to get permission from the state government and cannot build within 75m of a heritage site.”
A Queensland Heritage Council spokesman said Queensland Heritage Register was being updated to reflect the changes.
Redland City Council refused to comment.
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