National housing crisis triggers bitter row between Redland mayor and Steven Miles

A major housing shortage has kicked off a bitter row over small-lot housing between the state government and a bayside council.

A national housing shortage has kicked off a bitter stoush between the state government and a bayside council mayor, inflaming a row over small-lot development.

Redland City Council mayor Karen Williams came under fire this week from State Development Minister Steven Miles who claimed she had failed to adequately plan for a massive population boom and ordered the council to fix its housing strategy by next year.

Mr Miles said he wanted more small-lot development in Redland to bridge the state’s housing shortfall.

Small-lot housing in Thornlands where some lots are 125 sqm.

Cr Williams hit back at the claims, saying the state government had ignored the city of 161,000 people and was to blame for the lack of adequate infrastructure which had hampered housing construction.

“I think it is more a case of the state government ignoring Redlands,” she posted on Facebook.

“(There is) no intention on my part to fight for anything other than what our city needs.

“We have a housing strategy taking us to 2031 and a recently state-endorsed planning scheme that took on ministerial directives.

“Most people will accept growth if there is a visible, associated state infrastructure plan delivered to service the growth.”

The council will discuss the matter on Wednesday but said there was no rush to meet Mr Miles’s August 2022 deadline for an overhauled housing strategy as the city had enough residential land supply to 2041.

The matter came to a head this month after Mr Miles used his special ministerial powers to speed up approval processes for construction giant LendLease’s 3500-lot Redland Bay housing estate.

Redland Bay where more than 3000 houses will be built.

He approved a $30 million sewerage plant on the Logan River to service the estate and also promised $15 million of state money to pay for it.

In March, the state government named Redland Bay as one of three areas where it would streamline housing development in the southeast in a bid to stem soaring housing prices.

Small-lot housing has been a bone of contention in the city, which recorded 1 per cent population growth last year, well under the 2 per cent figures posted in Logan, Ipswich, Moreton Region, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, according to ABS figures.

Harrington Boulevard and Cardwell Cct in Thornlands where some blocks are 125 sqm.

The row over housing dates back to 2010, when the state government insisted on the South East Thornlands Structure Plan, which ultimately led to blocks of 125 sqm and 150 sqm in Harrington Boulevard and Cardwell Cct.

The feud escalated in 2017, when Redland proposed increasing its minimum urban residential lot size from 350 sqm to 400 sqm.

The state approved the council’s proposals but said making the minimum lot size larger “may” take away choice in the market.

It added conditions about when lots could be smaller than 400 sqm and approved an increase to the low-density residential minimum lot size to 2000 sqm.

A year later, in 2018, the state ordered the council to undertake new studies to ensure there would be appropriately zoned land for a range of dwellings, including small-lot housing.

Cr Williams said she did not want the beauty of Redlands “ruined” by poorly designed residential properties and said the lot-size adjustments came after consulting residents.

Residents have complained about the state of the roads and lack of infrastructure including no sewerage for the 3000-lot housing estate, which State Development Minister Steven Miles has now approved on the Logan River.

The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute found that at the end of 2020, the nation was short of 173,000 affordable dwellings.

An extra 794,000 new homes would be needed in the southeast in the next 20 years with peak body the Urban Development Institute of Australia predicting Redland would require an extra 17,200 houses but only had 2.6 years’ worth of land supply.

Redland’s population has been forecast to grow by 28,000 to 188,000 by 2041.

A public consultation period was held but the sewerage plant was approved using ministerial designation.

The market was even tighter at the Sunshine Coast where there was a need for 87,000 extra houses with supply for only 2.4 years and 1.7 years at the Gold Coast, where a further 158,900 houses were needed by 2041.

Logan would need an extra 89,900 houses.

Redland council had 69,751 rateable properties on July 1 with a further 1145 properties exempt from rating but attracting service charges.

About 30,000 people moved into Queensland last year, with the government expecting interstate migration to contribute another 62,000 new residents over the next three years.