History to go as demolition looms for Wellington Point Queenslander

The wrecking balls loom for a century-old cottage on Brisbane’s bayside after a court gave a property developer a second chance at demolishing the Queenslander.

The wrecking balls loom for a century-old station master’s cottage on Brisbane’s bayside after a court gave a property developer a second chance at demolishing the wooden Queenslander.

Planning and Environment Court Judge Richard Jones ruled this week that a state government order to stop the demolition of a 136-year-old Wellington Point property was not issued on reasonable grounds.

Judge Jones ordered that the developer be excused for failing to demolish the house on Main Rd within a two-month time frame of a building demolition order.

The rundown building was earmarked to be bulldozed in January to make way for a townhouse development.

The house at Wellington Point is expected to be bulldozed.

But it was saved days before it was to be levelled when Redland City Council mayor Karen Williams wrote to the then Acting Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon calling for the work to be halted.

The last-minute plea to the minister in January followed a council decision in October to contemplate listing the cottage, along with 45 other sites,on a Redland heritage register.

On the council’s request, the state issued the stop order on January 13, forcing Thor Demolition to leave the site.

Property owner Neade Karam decided to challenge the move, which would void the demolition order granted by a private building certifier in November.

The demolition order prompted Mr Karam’s property development company to sign a deal to pay $1.25 million for the site in December.

In his decision, Judge Jones said there were “a number of concerning aspects” with claims in the mayor’s letter, which did not include a heritage consultant report.

“The correspondence by the Mayor on 11 January 2021, refers to the recent engagement of a heritage consultant retained to identify and document local heritage values across the city,” Judge Jones wrote.

“As far as I am aware, the only investigation carried out by a consultant to assess local heritage places was one that was completed in 2016. That could hardly constitute the recent engagement of a consultant.”

The cottage was built in the 1890s but is rundown and now expected to be bulldozed after the court order.

Justice Jones also said the state government decision not to list the cottage on the Queensland Heritage Register proved it was not significant and said it would cost the owner up to $300,000 to stabilise the house if it were to remain on the site.

But National Trust of Australia Redland branch secretary Steve MacDonald said the council’s protests were “too little too late” and it had been too slow to get heritage sites listed on its local register.

“The council should have had a heritage register in place 20 years ago,” he said.

“Now the history of Redlands is under threat and we still don’t have a finalised heritage register or proper protections in place.

“The state of the building made it hard to save but without a local heritage listing, it was unlikely that the state government would ever intervene.”

Wellington Point from the air showing the Main Rd property starting from top left: 1946; 1960; 1973; 1985; 1999 and today.

The council said it had exhausted all reasonable legal means to protect the Queenslander.

Councillor for Wellington Point Wendy Boglary said the court had overruled a temporary council protection order which required community consultation and council approval before any demolition could proceed.

“Unfortunately, the court did not agree, effectively allowing the demolition to proceed,” Cr Boglary said.

“Council will continue to consider the future adoption of amendments to the Redland City Plan to ensure the protection of the remaining private properties proposed for listing on the local heritage register and appropriate support for their owners.

“We have also secured interim protection for the 45 properties proposed to be included on Council’s local heritage register through a temporary Local Protection Instrument (TLPI) helping retain important local heritage.”