Redlands2030 to pay Walker Group costs in Toondah Harbour case
A bayside lobby group has been reprimanded and ordered to pay costs after it lost a bid to get details of secret development deals for one of the state’s largest passenger ferry terminals.
Redlands Coast
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A bayside lobby group has been reprimanded and ordered to pay costs after it lost a bid to get details about secret deals between a southeast council and the developer of one of the state’s largest passenger ferry terminals.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal upheld an appeal by Toondah Harbour developer Walker Group against Redlands2030, which had pushed for the release of all documents linked to the harbour development agreements.
The controversial $1.4 billion Toondah Harbour Walker development is for an overhauled ferry terminal and 3600 high-rise units on the waterfront at Cleveland.
The area is under Ramsar environmental protection as it is home to rare shorebirds and the critically endangered eastern curlew.
In his ruling, QCAT Judicial Member John McGill SC singled out Redlands2030 for not co-operating to resolve the matter quickly and questioned the group’s claims of acting in the public interest.
“It is difficult to discern any public interest in the third respondent’s (Redlands2030’s)
opposition to the appeal, in the teeth of three prior decisions of the tribunal,” Judge McGill said.
“It can be seen also not to be in the public interest for organisations of limited financial resources to feel that they can litigate in the tribunal with impunity, protected by poverty from any adverse cost consequences.”
Judge McGill ordered that Redlands2030 pay Walker Group’s costs of the appeal, incurred after October 17, 2019.
He did not stipulate how much the costs would be, leaving that to the two parties to determine.
An assessor will be appointed to make a ruling if no agreement can be reached.
Redlands2030 said it was still determining its next course of action and investigating its options.
The group’s secretary, Chris Walker, did not comment on the QCAT order.
But in the past he has said people should have the right to know what the community was getting in return for the development and the loss of significant wetlands.
Walker Corporation’s director Peter Saba said Redlands2030 had wasted everyone’s time.
“We did our best to mediate amicably with Redlands2030 but they refused to co-operate and have caused us a significant legal financial burden,” Mr Saba said.
“The decision is a vindication of the huge community support behind Walker’s Toondah Harbour masterplan.
“Redlands2030 has always been hellbent on stopping future generations of Queenslanders from enjoying the new Toondah Harbour vision set out by Redlands City Council and the Queensland Government.”
The case started in 2017, when the incorporated body, set up to follow local government planning matters, asked Redland City Council for documents detailing behind-the-scene deals with Walker Group over the Toondah Harbour development.
The group wanted two documents — an infrastructure agreement, which is now publicly available and a development agreement, which is still confidential.
The council refused and Redlands2030 took the matter to the Office of the Information Commissioner, which ruled in favour of releasing the documents.
However, before the documents were handed over, Walker Group and the state government counteracted and appealed the decision, leaving the matter before the Queensland Civil Administrative Tribunal.
In May, QCAT found the Toondah development agreements were exempt from public release under Queensland’s Right to Information laws and blocked their release, locking the information away from the public forever.
The ruling has led to calls for the laws to be overhauled.
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