Farmland goes as work starts on 3000-lot Shoreline housing estate
Some of the last remaining pieces in farmland in Redland City disappeared last week, when bulldozers rolled in to start construction of the Shoreline housing estate in Redland Bay.
Redlands Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Redlands Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Some of the last remaining pieces in farmland in Redland City disappeared last week, when bulldozers rolled in to start construction of the Shoreline housing estate in Redland Bay.
TV SHOW HOLEY MOLEY AUDIENCE FOR CLEVELAND
CONCERNS FOR GRIEVING DAUGHTER
FIND YOUR INTERNET BLACK SPOTS
The estate, which will result in 3000 houses, averaging around 400sqm, is being built by development giant Lendlease and fronts the main Cleveland-Redland Bay Rd.
The land, cleared more than 20 years ago prior to strict tree clearing laws, was being used for cattle grazing until last month.
The project has been plagued with planning and financial hiccups at both state and council levels until Lendlease stepped in and signed a development management agreement in 2018.
The former lead developers, Cleveland-based Fox and Bell and Fiteni Homes, who together own the land, agreed to a range of conditions before sections of the project were given initial approval.
Conditions had originally included building 3km of dual lanes on Cleveland-Redland Bay Rd, upgrading eight intersections, and building a 2m-high fence to shield the main road from the small-lot estate.
However, sewerage plans are yet to be approved with the project given the rights to proceed with the first 200 houses before construction of a sewerage treatment plant, which will drain into the nearby Logan River.
Until then, residents will have their sewage trucked out of the site and taken to Mt Cotton.
Lendlease head of development Guy Gibson said Redland council had approved four stages totalling 130 lots and a community park.
He said construction would start this month and he anticipated the first stages to be completed by mid-2021.
“So far, 73 lots have been released over the three stages with 15 lots still available for sale,” he said.
“We can build 200 lots and the sewage can be tankered away until the sewerage is operational.”
Redland community advocate Junita Grosvenor said residents were concerned about traffic hazards on Cleveland-Redland Bay Rd, the lack plans for a school for the 10,000-strong estate, small-lot sizes and environmental degradation.
“Lendlease says the first lot of houses will be built over the next six months — but there is no infrastructure — there is no bus, no school and this is just going to add to the big problem we already have with badly planned small-lot housing,” she said.
“Cleveland-Redland Bay Rd should have been duplicated many years ago and dangerous intersections such as Double Jump Rd and Serpentine Creek Rd will need to be addressed.
“I’m hoping the developers don’t leave it until it is too late to secure enough land for a primary and a high school and that they don’t expect to build into the nearby conservation bushland.”