Forest Lake Shopping Centre in alleged bid to block Pallara shops
An outer Brisbane community starved of services is in uproar after a shopping centre 7km away objected to plans for a new centre to be built closer to home.
Southeast
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A State-owned shopping centre in Brisbane has been accused of trying to delay a new centre planned for an amenity-starved suburb in a bid to stymie competition.
Calamvale Councillor Angela Owen, whose ward covers the rapidly developing outer-south suburb of Pallara, wrote to ratepayers on December 9 to inform them Queensland Investment Corporation, owners of Forest Lake Shopping Centre, had formally objected to plans currently being considered by council for developer BluePoint Property to build a shopping centre at 201 Gooderham Rd, Pallara.
“By objecting, QIC now has the legal right to appeal any approval Brisbane City Council may grant in regard to this shopping centre – meaning construction will be delayed if they do this,” Cr Owen wrote.
Cr Owen accused QIC of acting contrary to the public interest by employing stalling tactics, chiding them for not understanding the situation of Pallara residents.
“What the QIC fail to realise is that many residents who live in Pallara may not have access to a car and therefore cannot currently travel to any shopping centre at all, because the State Government has not approved any of the four proposals BCC has put forward recommending bus services for Pallara,” she told ratepayers.
That last assertion is hotly contested by City Hall’s Labor opposition, who accuse the LNP of soft-pedalling on the issue, a claim they say is supported by the LNP recently voting down a motion calling for better bus services to Pallara.
A community petition supporting the creation of new bus routes has been signed by 836 locals, with spokeswoman Samantha Spaliviero previously telling the Southern Star that some residents were forced to “walk seven plus kilometres through terrain of un-pathed streets and main connecting road heavily under construction with road closures, trucks, work vehicles, workers and road which has been patch worked” to catch their nearest bus.
QIC’s objection, filed against the new Pallara shopping centre on November 25 by attorney David Higgins, alleges the BluePoint proposal is not compliant with several codes and standards.
They include the Strategic Framework of the Planning Scheme, Rural Zone Code and the Willawong Neighbourhood Plan Code.
“The scale and intensity of the proposed uses are considered to exceed the demand for those anticipated for the site under the Planning Scheme and expectations of projected rapid population growth,” the objection stated.
QIC alleged planners on behalf of BluePoint have misinterpreted population-growth data which supports the submission that another centre is viable such a distance from Forest Lake Shopping Centre.
These points were refuted in a further submission by an anonymous local.
“(Is it that) QIC are trying to make the taxpayer’s lives healthier, more convenient, and
the environment better?”, he asked.
“(Or is QIC) opposed to the new shopping centre plan just because QIC may lose the customers 7.2 km away because the poor taxpayers have no choices?”
A QIC representative told Southern Star their submission was a “normal function of the planning process and serves to protect an area’s development hierarchy as well as existing investments in the community.”
“QIC is a significant investor in this region of southwest Brisbane, and our priority is to ensure the long- term interests of the community our assets serve are not compromised,” it said.
“QIC’s objection to the shopping centre proposal at Pallara is due to conflicts the proposed plan has with a number of planning codes in place at the site.
“The proposed plan’s scale and usages exceed what is anticipated for that site under the Planning Scheme as well as expectations for population growth.”
BluePoint Property director Marcus Dore said he was “not surprised” by the objection, which means it could now come before the Planning & Environment Court.
“Does it deter us? Absolutely not. There’s a huge community desire,” he said.
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