Thornlands housing estate approved despite flood threat

A southside council has approved a housing estate on bayside land at risk of flooding and requiring two farm dams to be covered over and 70 native trees cut down.

An aerial view of the site showing its proximity to the bay and the two dams; top, the site’s front gate; and a male and female Australasian shovellers on the northern dam in 2018. (Photo courtesy of Redlands 2030)

Redland City Council has approved a 52-lot housing estate on land that is at risk of flooding.

The residential project will also require two farm dams to be covered over and filled in, angering conservationists and members from Redlands 2030 group.

The Thornlands site is next to an existing housing estate and when completed will include 8.6 hectares of open space and will require an extension of the existing George Thorn Drive as an access road.

George Thorn Drive would have to be extended to get access to the site.

An officer report said the two dams, constructed about 60 years ago, were not essential habitat and were a breeding ground for biting insects and cane toads.

EAGLEBY WETLANDS NO LONGER DRY

LOGAN FLOODING ZONES

The report said filling in the dams would provide “flood immunity” for the housing estate and the proposed esplanade, which would “provide for evacuation of residents and access for emergency services”.

Under the plans, all houses will be built above the 2100 storm tide level, which is expected to rise 0.8m over the next 80 years.

The blue shows the 2016 storm tide inundation area with the green the housing site. The 2100 storm tide inundation zone is in between the blue and green zones.

According to the council’s draft Coastal Hazard Adaption Strategy, the site’s low-lying areas were likely to be exposed to storm tide inundation and expanding tidal areas in the future.

“However, very limited public or private assets are expected to be impacted,” the report said.

The northern dam will be rebuilt to provide a new bio-retention basin to manage stormwater from the development.

The plans showed all stormwater was expected to run off the site and into the bay, which is within 200m of the houses.

An aerial photo showing the two dams.

The officer report also said some of the new housing blocks conflicted with the City Plan requirements because they were partly located in an erosion-prone area.

Plans included felling up to 70 native trees on the site.

Bird lovers and conservationists questioned the plans and said a rarely-seen waterbird species, the Australasian shovellers, had been spotted on the northern dam.

A dam on the site, through the trees. Up to 70 trees may have to be cleared to make way for the houses.

Conservationist activist group Redlands 2030 said filling in the dams would save the council from having to manage safety risks and maintenance costs if the land is handed over for open space.

“There was no public consultation for this application because the proposed subdivision is classified as ‘code assessable’ under the pro-development Redland City Plan,” a Redlands 2030 report said.

“Presumably, councillors have had plenty of opportunity to discuss any issues in non-public meetings.

“For the record, the application for this development was lodged more than seven months ago.”

Redland councillor Paul Golle called in the development application for a decision at a council meeting in July, making yesterday the legal deadline date.

Development permission was granted with a range of conditions.